The Solitude of Heart
by Kawabunga
Summary: Based on the movie Jumper. Things are once again tightening around David Rice. The question is, will he manage to jump his way out of them, or will they leave him like he once left them? Powerless. Probably DavidXGriffin in the end.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Well, here I am with a brand new fic. This one sort of came flying to my mind in the late night hours the same day as I saw the movie "Jumper". I fell in love with the character Griffin, and being the unrepentant fangirl that I am... this will most likely turn out a **Yaoi **FanFic. So if you don't approve of **YAOI**, then do not read. Please. And if you don't know what **Yaoi** means... LOOK IT UP DAMMIT! ...Or read on, and have a severe shock. You're choice.

Anyways, I sincerely hope you will like this, and please keep in mind that English is not my native language! (Therefore I am obliged to write at least a little poorly.)

Reviews are highly appreciated as usual and if you haven't seen the movie "Jumper"; DO IT!! Yay!! Thank you for being so patient listening to my ranting. Or rather reading it. Okay, I'm ranting again. So I'll quit. -Grins- Please enjoy!

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**The Solitude of Heart**

_Chapter One_

_"Long time, No see"_

-

David Rice was really just an ordinary man. Sure, he had his idiosyncrasies, like for example the one including him teleporting himself all over the world in seconds, leaving nothing behind but a jumping scar. A scar no one but another Jumper could follow.  
Some people might would have said that made him rather special and that considering precise fact, David Rice was anything but an ordinary man. They would say he was a freak of nature, a misfit. Someone might even go as far as to call him a miracle. Said miracle himself however, did not consider himself as neither of those things. To him, being a jumper was simply a part of his identity, like his love for surfing and his sometimes black humor. His ability to move from place to place in milliseconds was just a piece of the whole package that was David Rice. David Rice, the Jumper.  
David Rice, the man who knew how to conquer the laws of physics.  
The man who could maneuver through the massive network of portals without as much as heaving for his breath.  
Without as much as blinking.

He had known he was different since the time he fell through he ice back in high school and accidentally teleported to the local Library, bringing what seemed like the entire river with him. It had been pretty stupid actually. The whole accident that was. And it could probably have been avoided if it wasn't for the fact that David, who went under the name of Riceball at that time, had been madly in love with the girl next door, Mille. So in love that he went out on the ice above the flowing river to get the ball of glass that Mark Kobold, the class' jerk, rudely had thrown out there. He had given her that glass-orb at school one day, the one he'd bought on a simple garage sale the day before.  
He smiled faintly at the memory.  
He had been so amazed with the ball of crystal himself and seeing as it contained the Eiffel-tower, the young boy had thought about his friend Millie at once. Millie had always wished to travel. All around the world. She used to have her whole locker decorated with post cards from cities and places all over the globe. Those were the places she wanted to travel once she could afford it or had the time. He cloud easily remember her words back then: _"If you are to have dreams, you might as well dream big."_

The Jumper smirked. Those dreams had once seemed so far away. They had been just that. Dreams. Now, he thought and felt his smile widen, they were reality. She had wanted those dreams to come true more than anything as a kid, and now, they really had. Because of him.

Snuggling closer to the warmth of her lither body, David remembered the look in his girlfriend's deep-brown eyes once he'd showed her the real Eiffel-tower. She had been so happy that day. So happy her whole appearance had seemed to glow. Feeling how her body relaxed against his, he kissed her shoulder gently, eliciting a small, sleepy moan from the dark haired woman in his arms. She turned around drowsily and slid her arms around his back. Sighing happily upon feeling her steady breathings against his chest and enjoying the pressure she put upon his torso, he let his eyes slip closed. He stayed like that for a while, not wanting to break the moment and glancing down at her, David treaded his fingers through her silky, brown tresses. She fit so very well there in his arms and he knew that no matter what would happen in the future he'd always have feelings for her. She was simply too special to forget or let go of completely.  
Smiling, he let his gaze swept over her resting from. Her expression was one of happiness and even though she was not aware of him watching her, she looked just as beautiful as ever. To him, she was an angel and most certainly had the look of one as well.  
He drew her closer and buried his face in her hair. The faint smell of strawberries tickled in his nose and he chuckled vaguely at the feeling. Her hair was so soft. Just like the rest of her. Millie was not a weak woman. She had a lot of willpower and her strength and courage was admirable, but she was still soft. Her whole being reeked of it. From the way she smiled to the way her eyelashes fluttered faintly like dark brandishes against her pale cheeks, making her look almost ethereal in the dim moonlight. He knew she was still far away in her own dreams, so he did not feel all too bad when he slipped out of her arms within seconds found himself gazing out over the city of New York atop of the Statue of Liberty. He often came here to think, even though him and Millie were currently sharing an apartment in San Fransisco. There was just something about the view that calmed him. Calmed him more than any other view else had ever managed to at least.

He sighed. Things were beginning to get rougher, and the surroundings were tightening around him.  
Being a Jumper might give you all you had ever wanted, or most of it at least, but it had it's dark sides too. Dark sides the young man was very much familiar with. He bit his lip and inhaled deeply before shaking his head. Things were indeed getting difficult from here. He had known that the troubles that came with his unique abilities was going to make themselves known at some point, and he also knew they were going to be impossible to ignore once they did.  
Yet, he hated the thought of running again and knew that had there been a way for him to get out of them without causing damage to the people around him, he would have done so. But it wasn't that simple. Nothing was. Not life. Not love. And most certainly not this.  
After hearing the truth about his mother and her vocation, David knew the troubles were literally chasing him. This time, in the shape of his own mom.  
That was the harsh truth and as much as he wanted to simply dodge it, he knew he couldn't.  
He would have to face it like a man. Or rather like a Jumper.

So, things were definitely becoming heavy.

Millie, of course, did not know, and even though David both trusted and loved her, he was not about to tell her either. Not yet at least. Millie deserved to be happy. She deserved the life she was living now and he knew she was indeed living it to the fullest. David was not going to be the one to take that away from her.

Rubbing his temples, he closed his eyes and let the chilly wind up in the heights ghost over his bare skin. He hadn't bothered bringing a shirt, but the weather was not freezing and he actually found himself enjoying the faint cold there was.

Glancing down at the city lights, he remembered the last time he had seen his mother. His mother, Mary Rice. Mary Rice, the Paladin. The Jumper-hunter.  
He knew the truth now.  
She had told him herself that day in January, when he had come to visit her house. He knew why she had abandoned him at the age of five and he knew she'd thought she had no choice. He knew she was vowed to her job and he knew she was in a way destined to kill him or the other way around.  
He knew all those things, but that did not mean he was going to accept it.  
No, quite frankly, David Rice was not the type to accept something like that. Even if it was his destiny.

After all, he was different. He did not bow to the so called rules. That, he had shown more than once. Back in time, he'd been told that he was just like the other Jumpers, a statement he had proven to be wrong. Roland was a living -he smirked bitterly at his own choice of words. He really had no clue if the white haired bastard was alive or not and to be honest, he did not care- proof of that.

As the memory of that hatred face ascended in his mind, the young Jumper scowled in a way that was very uncharacteristic for him. He could not care less about the dark man's faith, but still he often found himself pondering about it, despite himself.  
That was one whole year ago now, but the picture of Roland's features was still shining brightly on his retina. Clear as daylight.

He suspected he could never really forget about that incident and a part of him did not even want to.  
It was history now, but history was not to be forgotten. It was to be remembered.  
He was going to remember all of it and by doing that he could more easily avoid to repeat the same mistakes over again. A small shiver ran down his spine, and the Jumper realized goosebumps had appeared all over his skin. It was probably about time to get back to bed. He turned and was about to teleport back, when a smug voice interrupted him.  
A voice he knew all too well.

"So, this is where the little traitor comes to rest his mind." The accent was unmistakable.

Turning slowly, his eyes fell upon the person who had haunted far too many of his dreams lately. The person he'd abandoned in a High-voltage tower in Tsjetsjenia while bullets raced around their ears and bombs made the ground beneath them stir violently. He had not heard from said person since then and mixed feelings raced through his body as he met the pair of dark eyes he had never been able to dismiss from his memory, simply because they belonged to the first and only person he had ever felt truly at level with. The one person he knew that shared his unique powers. Another Jumper.

A Jumper who went by the name Griffin.

-

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings: **Yaoi (Or will be)

**Disclamer: **Characters are not mine.

**A/N:** Wow, I did not expect to have an update this soon, but this chapter sort of wrote itself. Hope you all enjoy! Gotta run off to work. Reviews are highly appreciated!

* * *

**The Solitude of Heart**

_Chapter Two_

_"Reunion"_

_-_

"What do you want Griffin?" It came out harsh, but David did not regret the way it sounded. He did not want to deal with his long lost "companion" right now. Actually, he did not want to deal with him at all. Griffin was loud and obnoxious and definitely not what David needed at the moment. He was was going to fight his own mother dammit, and all he really wanted was to have some time alone. He sorely needed that time. More than anything.

Griffin however, did not seem to care as he regarded the other Jumper with a somewhat sour look on his face. "I take it you're not too happy to see me?"

The blond shrugged, but did not reply.

The sight of the other Jumper brought back a ton of memories and David gritted his teeth once he pictured every single part of their last fight in his head.

They had been fighting practically all over the world, for a detonator that was going to blow up the room where Millie had been captured with Roland. Of course David would have none of that. There had been absolutely no way he would leave Millie to be blown up in that apartment. Not even to save the majority of Jumpers from the crazy white haired Paladin.

Therefore, he had fought Griffin and by doing that, he had ended up leaving him in the middle of a war zone. Powerless and without any form of protection. The blond Jumper assumed he should be feeling guilty about that particular action, but the truth was, he really didn't. Griffin should have seen it coming and David was not about to apologize to the one that had nearly sacrificed his girlfriend.

"Aren't you even gonna answer me David?" Griffin's eyes were now gleaming with something David recognized as a mixture between anger and curiosity. The Englishman looked as devilish as ever and he had yet to loose his somewhat ragged look. There was nothing really different about him and although he would never admit it, David felt slightly relieved that the brunet had been able to move on from their last meeting, still with all limbs attached. He could easily have been hit by a bullet, or by a bomb for that matter. Not that it would've affected him all to much if the other had been missing an arm or a leg, but the relief was evident in his chest none the less.

Smirking, Griffin ran a hand through his hair.

As his dark gaze swept his figure, David suddenly remembered he wasn't wearing a shirt and for some odd reason he felt slightly intimidated by that fact. The other Jumper seemed to notice his vague frustration and twisted his lip in a mocking way. "Relax blondie, you've got nothing to be ashamed of there."

David felt his eyes turn to mere slits, but still he did not answer the other. He just scowled at him.

"You left me with the wolfs to die and once I come back, you're simply gonna stand there staring?" Griffin shook his head faintly. "I thought you said we were comrades? Or have you forgotten all about that? The sappy little story of yours. Two superheroes, joining their interests to make the perfect team?"

His voice lowered and a predatory glint flashed in the dark depths of his eyes. "What happened to that, huh, David? You forgot? Or did you simply not give a damn?!" The last sentence was thrown out with such a force, David could easily read the message. He was about to pay for his actions.

Clenching his jaws, the blond stepped closer to the other male. "Why should I care about the fate of the one who nearly caused the death of my girlfriend?" It was barely above a whisper, but Griffin seemed to catch up with what he said instantly.

"Well..." He replied dryly, as of they where simply conversioning about the weather, "because by leaving me there, _you _nearly caused _my _death!"

David snapped. "It was your own damn fault Griffin!" He heard the rage within his own voice, but there was nothing he could do to change it. "You fucking left me with no choice! How the hell was I supposed to leave Millie there?" Inhaling deeply, he noticed how the other's face had not changed at all and that his expression was one of boredom. It only enraged him further and he thought he was going to lose it any minute. "Answer me you careless son of a bitch!"

Their eyes locked for a couple of seconds and as they stared intensely at each other, David felt something go off inside of him. Without thinking he launched out at the other man and soon, he found himself lost in yet another battle with his fellow Jumper. It was intense, raw and all the emotions he had built up over the past year, including the guilt he knew he'd been carrying deep inside, was released in a blur of fists. He remembered the other man's strength from their earlier fights, and for some weird reason it actually felt good to feel it again. Even though it involved a healthy amount of pain.

The fight, however, did not last long. He managed to get in a few good kicks and in reward, he received a couple of blows to the face, but none of them were able to cause any severe damage. He was left with a slightly bleeding nose and a busted lip, but other than that, he felt just fine. It would take more from the Englishman to make him hit the ground.

Actually, he was lying on the ground right now, but not from exhaustion. He lay there, simply because another body was straddling him, pressing his bare back down on the cement floor. He knew he probably had scratches all over his skin by now, but he'd have to deal with that later seeing as he was currently busy trying not to get killed by a furious Griffin.

Said man was now pinning his arms to the ground and his eyes were darker than David could recall to have ever seen them. His expression was one of utter rage and the way he sneered reminded the blond of a tiger on the verge of attack.

"You idiot!" The words took him by a surprise.

Out of all the possible things Griffin could have chosen to do to him he actually chose to call him an idiot? That really made no sense, and David felt himself frown. "What?" He managed to croak.

The brunet above him slammed his arms harder down against the floor and David let out a throaty groan as a sharp pain shot through them. Clearly, Griffin thought he was on no position to ask questions.

"I said, you idiot!" It came out fiercer this time and the blond could only stare at the other man's darkened expression. His breath came in forced pants and he had a cut above his right eyebrow, blood slowly running down his face, covering it in crimson. "I did not come here to fight you!"

David felt his frown deepen. What? Why the hell had he come then? If it wasn't to make David pay for his sins? What other reason could the brunet possibly have? He did not ask, simply because he did not know how Griffin would react to that. He just lay there, feeling how his back hurt from the bruises he knew had to be there.

"If I had wanted revenge I would have come after you a long time ago David!" The brunet spat at him, eyes still dangerously dark, "believe me, if revenge was my goal, then you'd be dead by now!" Somehow, David did not doubt him. He had seen how merciless the other Jumper could be. Griffin had absolutely no problems with killing those he considered a threat and he had shown several times that he was not the one to pick a fight with.

David remembered the first time they met. The brunet had killed off those Paladins a if it was the easiest thing in the world. He had no doubt what so ever about the brunet's ruthless personality and he knew that if Griffin had wanted him beneath the ground, that's where he would've been by now.

He could no longer hold his tongue. "Then why did you come?"

Shifting above him, the other Jumper fixed him with yet another deathly glare. The fire that burned deep inside those dark orbs was almost frightening and David could not refrain from feeling slightly uneasy at the sight. After a couple of seconds, the brunet shook his head and sighed. Some of the heat left his expression.

"Because I remembered that story of yours."

David quirked a brow. "What?" This was indeed uncalled for. He had expected almost anything from the Englishman. Everything from a fight to a sudden death, but not this.

He did not move as Griffin let go of his arms, rose and stepped a few inches away from him. All he did was watching him cautiously, not quite sure of what was to happen next.

"I know what's about to happen David." The other's voice was flat, almost defeated and the blond felt himself cringe slightly at the unfamiliar tone. It did not suit Griffin.

"I know. And as you're probably aware of, you're a part of it."

David held his breath. He thought he knew what was coming.

"I had a little meet up with your mother the other day." The look in Griffin's eyes was unmistakable. He was no longer angry. In stead, a stony expression was evident.

"She's coming after us. And this time, she's got company." An unnerving smirk started playing in the corner of his mouth. A smirk that sent chills down his spine.

"Seems we're going to have a little reunion David..."

The blond felt his heart twinge and a cold that did not come from his lack of shirt spread through his entire body. He knew more than he felt his lips move and the one word what came out was barely audible.

"Roland."

-

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning:** Eventually slash, might be some cursing!

**Disclaimer:** Not mine! (Only parts of the plot I guess!)

**A/N:** So, this is the next chapter! I really enjoy your reviews! I am -as you know- not from an English speaking country and I have only written a several-chaptered FanFic once before! Please keep telling me what you think and what I can do better! Also, I have to admit I have never read the Jumper-novels, but I will! Please remember this, when reading and keep in mind that this story is solely based on the movie Jumper!

Now, Enjoy ::Hugs::

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**The Solitude of Heart**

_Chapter Three_

_"Vacation"_

-

David rubbed his temples as he twisted the knot above the sink to make the water flow, a frown evident in his face. Now what was he supposed to to? Things had most definitely changed and by the looks of it, the changes was impossible to ignore, not to mention avoid. Groaning vaguely, he cursed to no one in particular and raked a hand through his hair.

Could he, or should he tell Millie at all? How would his girlfriend react to the fact that the man who'd tried to kill both her and David was coming after them again? And not only that, but he was accompanied by David's own mother, Mary, who was also after killing him off.

Surely, she would not be pleased.

The blond gave a small sigh as he threw some cold water in his face, the icy droplets running down his neck and over his bare chest. This was not going to be easy. He could already imagine how Millie's face would look if he told her about Griffin's appearance.

She had never really liked the Englishman. Not after he'd been willing to sacrifice her to blow up Roland. David himself had not wanted to tell her that, but the petite brunette could be rather demanding at times, not to mention stubborn. David had not gotten away with telling her only half the truth. Millie was not dumb. At all. So he had reckoned it was probably best to tell her everything before she found out otherwise and gave him hell for not telling her.

Anyway, he had no idea how she'd react to Griffin's return, but quite honestly, he hoped she would be composed enough not to have a fit. He doubted it though, but when it came to Griffin, he really did not know. And yet, even if she took it well, he'd still have to tell her that he was going to work with the Englishman once again. And that, he thought as he bit his lip, could become difficult.

Griffin had left him with nothing but an address in the form of a picture, and the blond did not even know where it was located. The other jumper had never told him, and David reckoned it was probably for safety reasons. This way, no one but him would be able to go there. He could bring someone with him when he teleported, but the blond doubted Griffin would be too happy about that.

Drying his face off with a towel, he stuck his hand in the pocket of his jeans, took out the picture and carefully unfolded it. The small, rectangular paper showed nothing but a room and just like Griffin's previous hideout, he walls were covered with drawings and photos of what he assumed were Paladins.

Some things just never changed.

As he made his way out of the bathroom, the blond remembered the first time he'd been in the Englishman's cave in the desert and how Griffin had gotten barking mad once he figured he'd been followed. With a small frown, he recalled the memory of a pissed Griffin, frantically playing away at video games and shouting at him to stay away from the walls.

To his day, the blond was not exactly sure of why the brunet had not wanted him to see what hung there. He assumed it was because that was where the other Jumper kept most of the information he'd been collecting about the Paladins and wanted to keep it to himself.

Griffin had always been an undefined mystery. David had never fully been able to figure him out. In fact, he had not even come close. The thing about the brunet was that he was extremely hard to read. Sometimes, he seemed like a blank slate, completely ridden of emotions, while the next, he was nothing but a ticking bomb, waiting to explode. David had never met anyone with such a temper, or ever changing moods. Not even Millie was that extreme when it came to shifting from happy to sad in a matter of seconds.

Closing his eyes briefly, the blond recalled the several occasions he'd seen the other Jumper incredibly pissed off. Griffin had often directed his anger at the other Jumper, and David assumed that was just understandable, seeing as he was actually the only person Griffin could feel somewhat relaxed around, or at least _had_ been feeling relaxed around.

He suspected that after the whole 'detonator-fight' the blond had lost whatever trust Griffin might have showed him in the past.

Clearing his throat, the blond clenched his jaws and suppressed the urge to growl. Damn that stupid brunet! Why did he have to make things so goddamn complicated. With a little sting from his conscience, David reminded himself it was not actually Griffin's fault that Roland was back, but he needed someone to blame and therefore, the Jumper would have to tolerate being the object of his frustration. At least for now.

He tried to go back to bed as soundlessly as possible and begged to whatever omnipotent force that might be out there, that he would not wake up Millie. Luckily, the Gods were on his side, because he managed to crawl back to bed without as much as making her stir. When he was lying safely under the covers, he tucked the warm body of his girlfriend close and with a mental sigh, he remembered Griffin last words.

"You're going to have to participate in this David. Whether you want to or not."

That, he thought darkly, surely was the truth.

With those last, depressing thoughts, he drifted off in a dreamless slumber.

--

"David!" Millies voice echoed through the hallway and David looked up from the newspaper he was reading when the outer door slammed shut.

"Yeah?" He replied a little curiously. Then, before he could do anything else, an object came flying at him, landed in his lap and crushed the poor newspaper with a tearing sound. Feeling how said 'object' squirmed in his lap, the blond Jumper let out a small laugh. "Jesus Millie! Since when did you gain the ability to jump?" The flurry of brown hair and black clothing that was currently straddling him let out a giggle and then proceeded with settling quietly atop of him in the chair.

Millie grinned down at him, her chocolate eyes sparkling with amusement. "Guess who I just ran into?!" She sounded so excited, David could not refrain from chuckling.

"Who?"

She heaved dramatically for air before piercing him with her gaze. "Lily!"

He stared dumbfounded at her and she groaned at his confused expression.

"Lily! The girl I used to work with back home!" She looked at him as if she expected him to start bouncing in joy.

David hardly remembered anyone by that name, and he could not recall a face. "Oh," was all he said.

"David!" Millie laughed, but hit him in the shoulder none the less. "You're so dense! You know Lily! Blond, tall, blue eyes?" She was clearly waiting for some sort of recognition from his side. Instead, she was disappointed when he just shrugged.

"Sorry, but I really can't remember her?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Of course not. You only remember the ones you find interesting don't you?"

Smirking, the blond let a hand run up her skirt. "Sure I do. I remembered you didn't I?"

Squealing, she swatted his hand away and jumped of him, only to have him standing right before her the next moment. Wrapping his arms around her, holding her tightly, he pressed a kiss against her forehead. "I was joking," he murmured against her smooth hair, "of course I remember Lily. She's the one with the pirate-addiction, right?"

"Yes!" Millie leaned up and captured his lips for a brief moment. When she pulled back, she held his gaze for a couple of seconds before once again speaking up. "Would you mind it terribly if I went back home with her for the weekend?" She made a really cute face and purposely widened her eyes in a fashion that made the blond's heart melt even though he did not want it to. "Please David? I haven't seen her in a long time and she invited me along. Pleeeeaaase?"

Laughing a little, David nuzzled closer to her and gave her a peck on the nose. "Sure."

"Yippee!" She jbounced away from him and ran for the bedroom, assumedly to pack.

Shaking his head with a soft smile, the Jumper watched her disappear. She was such a kid sometimes. Millie never seemed to rid herself of her childishness, and in a way, David truly appreciated that. The way she acted often had him loosen up a little and forget about his problems. Millie was a fresh breath of air in his existence and he doubted he would have ever known how to relax completely without her.

Grinning, he heard her small squeals of joy through the thin walls and he could practically see her before his eyes, dancing around, throwing clothes in the air.

He loved to see her happy like that though and she deserved to be so as well. This trip could be nice for her. For the both of them.

In any case, he'd have time to pay Griffin a visit.

--

Downing the last remains of his now slightly cold coffee, David let out a tiny groan of displeasure. His head was pounding like hell and all he really wanted was to crawl back to bed, instead of getting up and about like he'd planned. He'd not slept for more than a couple of hours, seeing as he had been thinking non stop about his upcoming journey, which was going to take place this particular morning. He had been twisting about constantly and ever time he'd closed his eyes, the picture of a pair of flashing, ocean orbs and a tantalizing smirk ascended on his retina.

Griffin.

The damn Englishman had been haunting his damn dreams even! As if he wasn't bothersome enough already?!

David had no idea of why his mind decided to get all screwed up every time he thought of Griffin. He truly hated the way he always felt somewhat awkward and undetermined around the brunet. Griffin evoked a kind of unsureness that the blond detested being confronted with and he could not define exactly why this unsureness always arrived along with the other Jumper.

He supposed it wasn't really all that odd, seeing as Griffin was indeed the person closest to being his equal. Yet, the blond felt like that was only partly the reason to why he lost himself like that around the brunet. Cursing under his breath, David grabbed hold of the coffee mug and stalked somewhat angrily towards the kitchen. He was not going to dwell about that just now. It was just too weird.

Griffin was weird enough as it was, and so was their relationship. They were not really friends, yet they had decided to work together and treated each other with a forced politeness. Slamming the cup down on the bench beside the sink, he bit his lip in frustration.

What the hell was he supposed to think about the whole situation?

Griffin surely would not have come to him if it wasn't for the fact that he needed the blond to solve this case, or at least felt somewhat bound to him. They shared the same fate somehow. If one of them was to lose against the Paladins, the other would most likely go down too and therefore, it was only understandable that they'd joined their games.

Neither of them actually had to _want_ it to see that working together was the best solution the the problems, they simply joined because it was the smartest thing to do. A truth none of them could ignore.

They did not like each other or anything, they just did what was best for every one.

It was necessary. And even though this cooperation would probably lead to a lot of misunderstandings, fights, maybe even actual murder-attempts, they'd simply have to get through it somehow.

Considering this, it was not odd that David had a bad feeling about it.

He'd left Griffin in the bullet-rain for the sake of his girlfriend's safety and it was only expected of their relationship to be awkward after that. Right?

This was the rational answer to David's question, but it still did not answer fully why he got this uneasy feeling in his chest each time he thought about the brunet.

Lifting the cup and slamming in back down once more, watching how a small crack appeared in the white porcelain, the blond gritted his teeth and shut his eyes tightly. This was going to be hard!

For some unknown reason, David felt like providing Griffin's head with the same damages he'd just given the porcelain cup.

To be continued...

* * *

**A/N:** Well, I just sort of made this chapter shorter than it was supposed to be, so that the updates will come faster. I am currently finishing my other progressing story, Shifting Roads, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, which means I can't update nearly as fast as I want to on either sides. Anyway, I'm in a rough period at school right now, so therefore I'll be a little caught up, but I shall try my best to not leave you hanging for too long! I am so happy that I've gotten this amount of reviews already and you guys are really supportive! 

There WILL be slash in this story and I intend to make this a rather long one. The chapters will become longer too, and I shall provide you with a lot of action ::Grins::

Also, I have to let you know that I do not, by any means dislike Millie! I love the girl, BUT I love Griffin more, AND I'm a yaoi fangirl... so... Yeah...

Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings:** Slash.

**Pairings:** David/Millie, David/Griffin - Which will become the main pairing... Hopefully.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jumper or its characters!

**A/N:** Again, I have to thank you all for being such awsome reviewers! Every time I see a review-alert in my inbox I give a little squeal of joy and send a silent 'thankyou' to whoever sent it. I really, really, reeeeally love it! -Grins-

I am glad you seem to enjoy the story and I hope you won't give it up, even if it will be long. I'm currently working very hard on other things, so I'll have to focus on them too! Yet, I have a feeling this fic will get a lot of attention. This chapter is not so eventful, but I wanted to write something concerning my two favorite Jumpers, so here it is. The next chapter will contain more action and hopefully, we'll see some more of a certain white haired bastard! That's all I'll ever spoil. -Snigger-

* * *

**The Solitude of Heart**

_Chapter Four_

_"Companions"_

-

"So, there you are. Sure took you long enough." Griffin put away the game-controller and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, "you got stuck in the toilet or something?" An annoying smirk grazed his features and David felt how rage was already beginning to build inside of him and he was tempted to just teleport back home that instant. He could not believe that the brunet even dared to use that kind of tone towards him. He had fucking let go of everything to get here and he was even lying to Millie about it. Or, she did not really know., so he assumed it wasn't exactly lying, but he was at least not telling her the truth.

Clenching his jaws, he stared blankly at the brunet who just grinned back at him. "I can see you haven't lost your happy facade, now have you?"

His tone was mocking and it made David's eye twitch further. Inhaling deeply he walked slowly towards the sitting Englishman.

"Cut the crap Griffin," he did not bother hiding his irritation, "and get to the part where we talk about why I'm here, okay?"

Griffin shrugged. "Fine by me," his lip twisted again, "as long as you don't expect me to be polite."

The blond actually let out a small laugh, followed by a snort. "Yeah, as if I'd ever do that."

The room they were in was just as messy as Griffin's previous hideout and the picture David had gotten definitely did not lie about the amount of papers on the walls. Glancing shortly at them, the blond was once again confronted with the face of his probably worst enemy. Roland.

The black man's eyes were drawn impressively soulful and the hard, icy expression that was evident on his features actually sent chills down the Jumper's spine, even if it was only a hand made picture.

It was weird to think about the fact that Griffin had made those drawings. They were anything but lifeless and the blond would actually go as far as calling them artistic. Griffin sure had a talent for drawing. Not that David was ever going to tell him or anything. The bastard was too full of himself already. Turning to face said bastard, the blond furrowed his brows slightly.

"You said my mother was with Roland the other night." He paused a little and for some odd reason, he bit his lip before continuing.

He guessed he was a bit nervous.

This was a feeling he was not entirely used to. Ever since he'd gotten his ability to Jump, he'd only felt real anxiousness a few times and all of them had been because someone he cared for was in danger, or something equally big. Therefore, this uneasy feeling came took him slightly by a surprise, but he managed to somewhat hold his composure.

Asking about his mother was not something he did frequently. Noticing the brunet's raised eyebrow, he let out a frustrated sigh.

"How did she look?"

Griffin's brow rose further. "How did she look?" His voice was monotone, but his eyes were burning with a blazing fire that made David want to tear his own gaze away. He shrugged, trying to hold his composure.

"Yeah?"

What else was he supposed to say?

It was not often he had the chance to gain some kind of information about his mother. Not often at all. Actually, he never really heard anything, so it was fair to say he was curious.

Griffin's ocean orbs were still flaming, and when he spoke, his voice quivered just a little. "Well, she looked pretty damn good to me." He took a moment to lick his lips and David could see how he fought to keep his facial expression as plain as usual. "In fact, I think she might be the prettiest woman who's ever tried to_ kill me_!"

For some undefinable, odd reason, David felt his heart twinge at the brunet's word, causing him to frown faintly. His eyes locked with Griffins and for the first time ever, he thought he saw a flicker of doubt in the other's orbs. Griffin had clearly noticed the small gesture, but just as David thought he was going to make a comment about it, the brunet dropped his gaze to the floor and shook his head slightly.

"Look," his voice was rough, beaten and some of the fieriness had disappeared from him, "I don't want to make you take a stand in this, I just—"

"I know." They stared at each other for a moment and no one said anything. The blond did not know what happened just then, but for a breathless couple of seconds, they both just stared at one another, seemingly content with holding each other's gazes. Something he had never felt before around the otherwise annoying Englishman spread in his chest and for some reason, he did not even care to hide it. Rubbing his temples, he walked over to the cozy chair next to Griffin's.

Plopping down on it, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"I know that this is not your fault," he sighed heavily, "You can't help the fact that my mother is determined to kill me." He cracked an eye open and watched the other man's expression turn into a small grin. "After all," he continued, "I can't blame you for everything." A pause, "even if it is indeed quite tempting."

The line was not supposed to be all that funny, but the moment he'd uttered it he could not help but hearing the obvious amount of humor it held. Clearly, Griffin noticed it too because just as David finished the thought, the other Jumper made an odd, chuckling sound.

With amazement, the Jumper watched as the brunet's lips tugged upwards and in seconds, his deadpanned look from before vanished and he was laughing loudly. Feeling how his orbs widened slightly, the blond suddenly became aware of the fact that this was the first time he'd ever heard Griffin laugh. For real and naturally at least.

The sound was foreign to his ears and it took several seconds for him to adjust to it. When he did, however, he found that it was indeed a catching sound and without knowing exactly how it happened, he was barking out in laughter as well.

They laughed in unison for good thirty seconds and when they were done, they were both wiping their eyes and their breaths came in short puffs.

Glancing quickly over at the other Jumper, David could not refrain from thinking about how weird what had just happened had been.

Blinking the last remains of water out of his eyes, he snorted faintly and proceeded shaking his head. Registering how Griffin mimicked his gesture, the blond let out a somewhat content sigh. It had been a long time since he had last shared a moment of enjoyment with anyone else than Millie.

Actually, the fact that it was Griffin did not surprise him all that much. Even considering that they were so obviously treating each other rudely almost all the time, he could not truthfully say that he really hated the brunet.

They had always been at some kind of connection when it came to their tempers and therefore it was only understandable that they shared the same kind of humor. Although, he had to admit that it felt a bit odd to act like this around the brunet. During their little laugh it had actually felt like they were somehow friends.

Well, companions at least.

"So..."Griffin's voice broke his trail of thoughts. David furrowed his browns slightly at the cautious tone the other was suddenly using, but before he had the chance to ask about it, the brunet opened his mouth again.

"How's the girl? What was her name again? Melinda?"

Somehow David knew he was acting. He had not forgotten Millie's name. Therefore, the blond only arched a delicate brow at him.

"You mean Millie?"

Griffin actually looked guilty. "Yeah... Millie."

"Well," the blond began, knowing this had to be a sore topic, even for Griffin, "she's doing fine. Right now, she's visiting a friend for the weekend. Otherwise, she's taken up some classes and it seems she now wants to become a guide." He almost rolled his eyes.

"Like everyone didn't know that all along. She loves traveling." He paused a little, noticing how the other Jumper sat straight in his chair, apparently waiting for more.

Griffin was really strange sometimes. He never actually seemed to care about people, except Roland and the other Paladins of course, but that was for an entirely different reason. Yet, the brunet obviously had some sort of conscience, because the way he looked screamed of locked up guilt. David guessed the brunet was feeling bad about the fact that he had earlier been willing to sacrifice Millie to get Roland. Frowning at the thought, David decided to play with open cards and cleared his throat.

"Listen. She knows about the detonator and she knows about our fight." He actually thought he saw the other flinch a little. But, knowing Griffin, that was probably his imagination.

"I did not plan to tell her, that would just have caused unnecessary pain, but she forced me into it. She is not dumb Griffin. Besides, she would have figured it out sooner or later."

The brunet nodded shortly. "Yeah, I guess so."

When he said no more, David chewed on his lip for a couple of seconds, before standing up, brushing his hands on his jeans. "So, now what?" He raised his brows at the other man.

"The paladins are back to get us, and clearly, so is Roland." Griffin scowled at the mention of the black man's name, "What are we going to do about that?"

After a rather long pause, the brunet inhaled deeply and buried his face in his hands.

"I don't really know." His voice came out muffled. "I guess we need to figure that out, eh? We'll just have to stick out heads together and come up with a plan." He peered out from a small slit between his fingers, a deep, ocean eye sparkling against the blond. "You think you have time to stay here for a couple of days? You could always bring the girl you know."

"Yeah... About that..." David bit his lip and his eyes fell to the floor. "I haven't..." he trailed off and did not finish the sentence.

Griffin seemed to understand none the less.

"You haven't told her."

"No." There was no point in denying it.

"Will you?" Griffin's voice held no harassment and the from the little the blond could see of his face, his expression seemed to be as solemn as he had ever seen it.

"Yes." The reply came a little too fast and the brunet raised a brow behind his hands. Cursing himself and his bad lying-skills, David let out a faint groan. "No. I can't! She'll only become upset and scared. Despite her trusting me, she really doesn't think I can take care of myself. Besides, I doubt the fact that I'm gonna work with you will make her look more brightly upon things."

Griffin shrugged. "Hell, I understand you." His hands fell to his knees and he proceeded standing up. Without another word, he walked our of the room, but came back moments later, carrying two cans of beer. "Here." He tossed one at David, who had to Jump to catch it in the air. Smirking at his ministrations, the brunet once again sat down in the chair. Opening the can with a sharp pop, he brought it to his lips and took a deep sip. Closing his eyes briefly he leaned back and savored the taste.

After about half a minute he spoke up again.

"You could always stay home with her, tell her you're out buying groceries once in a while and then Jump here? That way we'll have time to plan what we're gonna do."

David shook his head faintly. "That won't work. She'll understand something is not right." He sighed. "Like I said, she's not dumb."

Griffin took another sip of beer. "Hn. Right."

They sat in silence for some time, simply drinking once in a while. The room was without windows and therefore, David could not tell which time it was. He assumed it was somewhere around six in the afternoon, but for all he knew, it could be more even. It was fairly odd, staying with Griffin like this. It seemed almost as if the brunet had no problems with him being there and he guessed that was partly the truth. He did not really like the brunet Jumper, but for some weird reason he actually enjoyed the feeling of someone's presence. Someone other than Millie.

He loved the petite brunette, but seeing as he had to keep his identity somewhat a secret, he did not have a lot of friend. In fact, he rarely had any. A couple of the guys he worked with used to invite him along for drinks, but other than that, he was pretty much on his own with Millie as his only companionship.

Musing upon the odd feeling of contentment he felt around the brunet just then, he totally forgot about the other for a couple of moments. It wasn't before Griffin suddenly made a rustling sound as he moved in his chair, that the blond gave a start and looked up, only to find that the brunet was fixing him with an intense stare.

"Will you stay the night then?"

For some reason he could not define, his stomach fluttered unpleasantly at the brunet's words.

"I mean, surely you could always Jump back, but by staying here you'll lower the chances of the Paladins finding you and through that, me."

The truth behind his words was impossible to ignore.

Shaking off the odd feeling, he forced himself to nod.

"Sure. If you don't mind."

"Okay then. You mind sleeping on the couch?"

David shook his head.

"Good."

Another minute of silence passed by.

"Well," the brunet suddenly gained some of his earlier fieriness and picked up the game-controller again. "We'll just have to wait and see where they hit the next time. Surely, they'll go after the other Jumpers. I suspect you and I are the last ones they'll try to catch." Noticing David's befuddled expression, he gave a small shrug. "We are the ones that beat them the last time and they probably reckon we'll do it again. Therefore, they'll wipe away our possible coworkers first and then, they'll come for us."

His eyes locked with David's. "And when they do. We'll be waiting."

-

To be continued.

* * *

**A/N:** Sleepover! Yay! (Haha, I'm being childish. I know.) 


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings:** Will be slash!

**Disclamier:** Not mine!

**A/N:** Chapter five is up and I hope you'll enjoy it! Again, I'm a bit sorry about the shortness and the lack of progress, but please try to understand!

* * *

**The Solitude of Heart**

_Chapter Five_

_"Nightmare"_

-

David yawned roughly and rubbed his now stiff neck as he awakened on the couch. The room was just as dark and secretive as the night before, and the dim lights hid every possible sign of what time it could be. Still a little groggy, he shook his head and inhaled deeply before getting up.  
He had no idea of how long he had slept for and his mouth felt sticky due to the lack of a toothbrush. Smelling his breath, he grimaced and decided that the sooner he Jumped back home, the better.

As he swung his legs over the edge of the couch he gave a small wince. His neck apparently wasn't suited for somewhat sloppy furniture.  
That was a part of the profit one got from being a Jumper. Ever since he was a kid, David had not ever had to worry about something as simple as money or the lack of it, and thereby the luxury. He had practically been swimming in it since his teenage years. Surely, ha had not always used fair methods to gain all of it, but, he thought grimly, being a Jumper definitely had it's bad sides. Like sanguineous mothers for example.

He needed to locate Griffin. The other man was probably still asleep in the one bedroom the cave harbored. They would have to discuss what to do next and David thought it was in order of him to inform the Englishman about the fact that he was leaving home to get his possessions. That including his toothbrush. Smacking his tongue loudly, he tried his best to ignore the strong scent of alcohol that oozed from his mouth and moved to stand up. He took a few moments to take in the room he was in. For some odd reason, it seemed a little less messy without Griffin in it. The thought actually made him chuckle and he felt his stomach growl loudly. Probably from the lack of food.

Kicking an empty beer bottle lying in his way, the golden haired man made his way to the closet-looking bedroom door that Griffin was most likely behind. With a sharp rap on the hard surface, the blond stood and simply waited for the other man to open. He was, however, disappointed when he found that no one answered. Furrowing his brows slightly, the Jumper let out a somewhat frustrated sigh and opened the door by himself.

Just when he expected the wooden rectangle to make some kind of squeaking noise, he was instead startled when he heard a soft moan coming from the dark slit. Frowning, he pushed the door further open and wondered whether he should try to locate the light-switch or not. He decided not to, however, when once again, he heard a small whimper coming from the bed. It was time to act.

Moving through the gloomy darkness, David soon found himself hovering over Griffin's seemingly sleeping form. The brunet was lying on his back, and from what David could see, he was still asleep. His usual fierce gaze was trapped behind closed eyelids and his breathing was slow and steady, indicating that he was indeed sleeping. Yet, the blue eyed man was not fully convinced that everything was all right. How often did he hear Griffin whimper after all?

Slowly bending down, so that he was kneeling beside the bed, the blond bit his tongue while trying to figure out what to do next. It seemed somewhat inappropriate to wake the other man, seeing as he did not actually know whether there was something going on or not. Still he felt like he had to make sure nothing had happened and he knew he couldn't just leave without doing so.

It was a bizarre situation really. He was actually wondering whether the brunet was okay or not. He cared. Drowning the urge to laugh at that, he bit his lip thoughtfully instead. How had it come to his? He did not care for Griffin. At all. And yet, here he was, all disturbed and concerned about the Englishman's well being. He was acting like a mother hen dammit!

Although... he could not just leave right? He'd have to wake Griffin up anyway, to inform him about his departure. Tempted to groan, the intrigued Jumper dropped all his thoughts and decided to just get on with it. Just as he was lifting his hand to shake the Englishman awake, a deep throated moan tore it's way from the brunet's lips. Furrowing his brow, David lowered his head further and squinted through the darkness to get a better look at the sleeping Jumper.

Griffin did not look too good.

The other man's breathing came now in short puffs and his fists gripped the sheets as if they where his lifeline. Eyes widening, David reached out and placed a hand on the brunet's shoulder. What happened next, he had not expected. Griffin's hand suddenly shot out and before David could even register what was happening, he was pulled brutally down to the troubled Jumper's chest. What the hell?

Griffin's whole body shook as if he was being faced with severe cold and his lashes fluttered wildly. Sweat-drops had broken out on his forehead and heat seemed to radiate from his body. Maybe he had gotten a fever? Gripping his shirt firmer, the brunet whimpered violently and David was sure he was going to topple over, due to the way he was clinging to him.

Flabbergasted, he felt how the Englishman's hands traveled upwards and stopped to rest on his shoulders, where they squeezed almost painfully. Wincing, the blond tried to slither his way out of the crushing embrace, but all he managed to do was moving from the brunet's chest to his neck, and without being able to do a damn thing, he was pressed mercilessly against the trembling figure, face now buried in the crook of his neck.

"Mpf! Griffin!" He tried his best to push the other away, but it took more strength than he was currently able to pull together. Sighing, he simply gave up and shut hi eyes tightly, settling with the way the brunet held him, even though he felt all but awkward about the situation. Hesitantly, he moved his hands from the other's firm chest and placed them at his sides. Without knowing exactly why, he started to rub soothing circles on the warm skin he found there.

With something akin to amazement, David noticed how his ministration actually seemed to help the other Jumper to relax and soon, he found that the set of arms that ha been locked around him started to soften their grip. After about half a minute, he was free to move and slowly, he sat up beside Griffin, glancing down at the other man.

His face was no longer twisted in agony and his chest rose and fell steadily.

The sheets were shamelessly tossed aside and David could not refrain from letting his gaze halt at the muscled, tanned body beneath him.

Griffin was not big, but his body spoke of a rough life. His skin were covered in multiple scars, even evident in the dim lights. Especially, David noticed a big, edgy one, just below his left collarbone and frowning slightly, he wondered where the brunet could have gotten such a scar. He had a few ones himself, but none of them could be compared to this one.

Suddenly, he found himself overwhelmed with the need to touch the pale, sharp mark, and slowly, but surely, his hand moved towards the brunet's torso. He was just about to make contact with the warm skin when the other man suddenly stirred, his ocean eye snapping open.

For a breathtaking couple of seconds, they just stared at each other. Then, Griffin's eyes turned into mere slits and his lip curled upwards in a bestial sneer.

"What the hell are you doing?" He spat venomously, making the blond jump.

"I, uh—" David did not have the chance to explain before the brunet's hands came flying at him and within seconds he found himself pinned to the bed with a very furious Griffin above him.

"Fuck man! What's all this about? What the hell are you doing in my room and why the fuck are you trying to molest me in my sleep!" His voice was scolding and his eyes burned with an inner, blazing fire.

David swallowed harshly, "I'm sorry, I just heard..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Griffin, however, did not seem to care about his uneasiness and gave him a hard shove in the shoulder, eliciting a small groan from the other Jumper.

"Yeah? Tell me, what exactly did you hear?"

David had no clue of what to answer. Quite frankly, the fact that Griffin had acted like a little kid scared shitless only moments ago, disturbed him quite a lot and he was not sure about what to make out of it. How on earth was he supposed to tell the Englishman about what had just happened?

Clearing his throat, the blond tilted his head to the side and clenched his jaws.

This seemed to do it for Griffin. With a brutal push, he pressed the other man harder down to the madras and proceeded straddling his lap. David knew he could probably just Jump his way out this, but somehow, he doubted that would be an advantageous move to make.

"Now! Are you gonna talk? What the bloody hell were you doing!" He did not exactly sound calmer.

Wincing from the pressure on his ribs, the blond lifted his knees and tried to push the other off of himself. "I—ah, I will tell you!" he panted, "just get the—off me!"

With an angry growl, Griffin actually did as he was told and climbed off. As he moved to sit on the foot-end of the bed, David sat up and rubbed his stomach. It seemed all his innards were still in place, despite the rough treatment they had just gotten.

"Jesus!" He exclaimed loudly after catching his breath.

"Chill man!" His eyes locked with Griffin's, "I was about to wake you when I heard noises coming from here!"

Griffin narrowed his eyes. "Noises? What kind of noises?"

"You were probably having a bad dream or something. I ju—"

"What did I say! Did I say anything! Anything at all!" The desperation in the brunet's voice was downright frightening and David could not remember he had ever heard the other Jumper this upset before.

Knitting his brows he wondered vaguely what it was that the brunet had to hide, seeing as it had to be something, considering the way he acted. It was as if he was afraid he might have spilled something while sleep talking.

"Nothing really..." David attempted to shrug, but the movement came out rather weak. Stooping his head, the blond pursed his lips. "I just... You were sorta' moaning and I wanted to make sure everything was all right."

Griffin shot him a glare. "And since when did you care about my wellbeing?"

"Since right now apparently!" The words came out chapped and David knew he probably sounded really exasperated right then, but if he was to be completely honest, he could not care less! Sighing, he turned his head away from the other Jumper.

"I wasn't trying to invade your personal space or anything. I just wa—"

"—wanted to make sure I was all right." Griffin interrupted, "I know. You already said that."

They sat quietly for some time, none of them feeling like breaking the wall of silence. As David's breath steadied itself, the blond closed his eyes briefly before opening them to gaze at the other male.

He was genuinely surprised when his eyes met with dark, water colored ones.

"I'm sorry."

David's mouth almost fell open.

_Did Mr. Annoyance in two shoes just say 'I'm sorry'!_

* * *

_The woman strolled over to the empty chair standing in a spotlight in the middle of the room. _

_Blinking the sharp light away, she sat down, crossing her legs. There, she waited._

"_Number 143?" The familiar voice spoke from the dark. It seemed to come from everywhere around her and yet there was no trace of speaker-ruction in it._

"_Yes." She replied. _

"_You are here because you believe you are to be trusted?"_

_A short nod. "Yes."_

_The voice made a chuckle. "Trusted... Despite the fact that you have disobeyed my orders several times?" _

"_Yes."_

"_Well then..."_

_A pause. A pause to speed up her heart rate._

"_... You're in. Now get the hell out of here." _

* * *

**A/N:** Well, I wanted to make the end as little undertandable as possible... Hopefully it worked out. I know there's still not much progress in this story, but believe me, there will be. There are just a couple of facts I need to get on the table first. Like Griffin's dream? 

-Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I've been busy lately, so therefore I haven't been able to write, but I promise to become better! And faster! Until then; Take care!


	6. Chapter 6

**-Warnings:** Eventual Slash

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the fandom 'Jumper' -What a shame though! 

**A/N:** This came a little fast and unexpected on me, seeing as I had planned to update in a couple of days, not now... Yet, my hands kept craving the computer and I ditched several important homeworks to get this one on the table. It doesn't happen too much during this chapter, but like I've said before; this story shall be fairly long. 

I liked writing this, and I hope you'll like reading it. Please enjoy! And I apologize about errors!

* * *

**The Solitute of Heart**

_Chapter Six_

_"Encounter"_

-

She was torn. 

Mary Rice, the Paladin, mother of David Rice, the infamous Jumper who'd beaten her own leader, the one man she'd thought could not be beaten by anyone, was thorn.

Thorn between her need to follow her orders, and her need to actually act like a mother, something it was fair to say she had not been doing for a couple of years. At least not towards David that was. 

Sighing rather heavily, she ran a hand through her short, sandy locks. 

The youngster was far from an easy prey and she knew she'd have to put up one hell of a fight to take him down.

Her face broke into a faint smile. 

He was her son after all. And there was no point in denying that. 

He had shown that he carried a lot of her genes several times. He had fought his way to the top and she even considered him stronger than herself in a lot of ways. 

Still, he was indeed young and had a lot to learn. He lacked the experience she had, and he was by far skilled enough to beat her in a fist-fight. Or any fight at all, she concluded.

Also, he had a pure heart, a hart that she was sure could cause him a lot of trouble. If the people he kept close to that heart were to be hurt, she was sure she could get him completely out of balance. 

This, she knew from experience.

She had once been blessed with the same kind of heart and her body had once upon a time been lit on fire by it as well.

However, now, that fire had long since burned out and there was noting but ashes left of her once righteous heart. 

She was dedicated to her work now, not her heart. And she intended to keep it that way. Mother or not.

"Well son," she murmured, "you've had your head start." 

_Click._

"Time to join the race."

* * *

David cursed as he brushed his teeth for the second time that day. Toothpaste flew from his lips and hit the mirror above the sink in a fashion that reminded the blond of snowflakes coating the ground. Sighing, the blond wet the tip of a towel and smoothly rubbed the small, white dots away. As they vanished before his eyes, the Jumper could not help but wishing they were his problems. 

What a deceiving thought! Just being able to wipe away the troubles as if they were small stains of nothing. 

Clearly, that was the farthest from his reality he could possibly get.

Things just weren't that easy, and knowing this, the young man heaved silently for his breath once more before proceeding to pull of his shirt. He needed a shower.

As the steaming droplets of water ran down his skin, the blond could not refrain from looking back on the morning's events. Closing his eyes, he furrowed his brows a little, a small frown appearing on his features. The pictures of a writhing, sweaty Griffin clarified in his mind and feeling how his frown deepened, David remembered the small sounds of agony that had escaped the sleeping Jumper's mouth. He had seemed so completely out of character. 

David had never, not even in his wildest fantasies been able to imagine the smart-mouthed brunet could ever look as vulnerable as he's done back then. The Englishman's face had been twisted in what the blond could only describe as a painful frown and the way he had shaken as if he suffered a high fever made David wonder what the hell he had been dreaming about. There was only so little he knew about the other Jumper, and therefore, he had no idea of what kind of traumas the ocean-eyed man had possible gone through.

Massaging his scalp with smooth hands covered in cinnamon-smelling shampoo, the Jumper tilted his head back and simply enjoyed the warmth. He felt clean again and his breath did no longer reek of alcohol. He and Griffin had downed rather the amount of beer-cans last night and the blond was actually surprised he did not feel the hangover. Well, not much of it at least. He had not gotten drunk, but fairly affected and his mind had felt pretty dull in the end. Griffin too, apparently, seeing as the Englishman had actually loosened up quite a lot, and not even bothered to mock David every other sentence.

As a matter of fact, the two of them had not argued once the other night and David was pretty amazed about just that. He had imagined the two of them would experience at least one severe fight during his stay with the brunet, but for some odd reason no such thing had taken place. The pair of Jumpers had not even come close to a fight! 

The blond supposed he should have considered this more than unnerving, but right now, he was too content with the fact that they weren't actually fighting to care. 

What he did care about however, was the way he had felt almost home and welcomed in the brunet's hideout. That, he had definitely not expected when he left to visit the other man. He had imagined his whole stay there to feel rather repulsive, not to mention forced.  
Yet, he had to admit that he had been completely wrong about that.  
Except from the first half an hour or so, Griffin had actually treated him with something akin to politeness and David had not once gotten the impression of hostility.

Running his fingers through his golden tresses, David rinsed out the last remains of soap and sighed softly when he heated water washed over his face. His neck was beginning to hurt less and his insides were heating up as well as his skin. 

Smiling to himself, the blond turned off the water and grabbed a towel to dry off. 

He could not help but wondering why Griffin had been so nice to him. He had expected the brunet to be much angrier at him than he currently seemed to be. 

Even though David would probably never say something like that aloud, or even mentally, he would not have blamed the Englishman if he had hated him for what he had done to him in the past. He had left him to die after all, and David was sure that if anyone had ever done such a thing to him, he would've had a hard time forgiving them. 

Griffin, however, seemed to be okay with the whole situation and David honestly couldn't understand why. When the other Jumper had shown up two nights ago, seemingly to haunt the blond, his motives had not appeared just as friendly and at that point, David had been sure that the brunet wanted revenge. 

Thus, this had had proven to be wrong and to this moment, the blue eyed man could not understand it. At all. 

The two of them were not friends and yet, yesterday, they had acted as if they were comrades. Drinking and laughing together. 

How much stranger could a relationship possibly get? 

For some undefinable reason, he felt his chest flutter unpleasantly at his own choice of words. 

'Relationship'? 

When most of the water was absorbed from his skin, he wrapped the now semi-wet towel around his waist and opened the small cabinet above the toilet to find his razor, but before he found it, a sound coming from the hallway caught his attention. Freezing completely, the blond felt how blood start to rush in his veins and he held his breath without thinking. 

Mouth slightly open, the Jumper sharpened his ears and waited.

There was someone in the house. No doubt. Not only could he hear the small, almost inaudible squeaks of shoes on the linoleum and the faint rustles of clothes, but he also swore he could feel another person's presence. 

Swallowing, the young man moved soundlessly to the bathroom door and without making a single noise, laid his ear against the firm surface.

Yep, there was no mistaking. Someone was moving around in the hall. He considered Jumping there to figure out who, but soon found that it would only do more damage than good, seeing that if the one out there was actually a Paladin, he would have small chances of escaping that damned electric web. 

God as he hated that weapon!

It's design and abilities were a plague to all Jumpers and frowning, he remembered the last time he had encountered one of those. He did _not_ want to suffer through that again.

Feeling his heartbeats growing fiercer and faster, the blond made an effort to hear better and once more held his breath. With practiced movements, he raised his hand and slowly placed it on the door handle. He put a faint pressure on it and it was about to slip ope—

_WHAM!_

He was knocked off his feet by a crushing kick in the stomach and stumbled back into the bathroom and ended up sprawled on his back on the floor. Blinking disorientated, he propped himself up on his elbows and tried to locate his attacker. His back hurt like hell and the air was long gone from his lungs. 

Breathing harshly, his eyes swept the environments, searching for whoever had kicked him, but before he noticed anything strange, a foot ascended to his face and everything went black for a moment. However, this time, he was faster to react and before his mind went blank. He collected his strength and Jumped. He knew that he could not pass out here. 

He did not teleport far though, seeing as he knew that if his attacker was a Paladin, he or she could possibly have brought along the machine that allowed them to follow him. 

As the room spun back into focus, he found himself on the living room floor, nose throbbing painfully, his whole body aching. 

He had almost his his head in the giant oak-bookshelf Millie had insisted on buying and silently thanked whatever God there might be for the fact that he was still capable of moving. Had he been knocked unconscious by the latest blow, he probably would have been dead meat my now. 

Rubbing his burning back, the blond got to his feet and proceeded fiddling in his pocket for his phone. Griffin had said to call him if anything should happen, and now, something was definitely happening, right? 

Black spots were dancing in front of his eyes, but he managed to grasp it none the less.

Just as he'd gotten it out and was about to dial the brunet's number, a noise gabbed his attention and he turned around just fast enough to block a hit that would have been fatal, had he received it to the head. For the first time he actually got to see his attacker and his eyes went wide.

"Mom!" 

The words came out a soft cry, much weaker than his usual shouting and he swore his voice was all but quivering. 

"Hello David."

* * *

"Ngh!" David let out a hard, disturbed groan and swatted the bloodied cloth brushing his damaged skin away in an angry motion. The antiseptics burned like a blazing fire in his wounds and the rough treatment Griffin was providing him with did not make the pain any less evident. 

"Damn David! You gotta sit still and let me do this, or else you'll never heal!" The brunet sounded somewhat exasperated and the words were spoken through gritted teeth.

Grumbling under his breath, the Englishman harshly grabbed a hold of the blond's arm and forced him to stay in place as he ascended the cloth to the gaping wound below his right shoulder once more. His ocean eyes determinedly fixed on what he was doing.

David, still in a big amount of pain, watched him and soon found himself slightly captivated by the stubborn look that seemed to linger in the glimmering depths, even after he himself had stopped struggling. 

Griffin looked so pure just then and the blond could not refrain from thinking that this had to be the most sober expression he had ever seen in the other's face.

They were located in Griffin's cave, in the bathroom more precisely, and the Englishman was currently cleaning up the mass of blood that leaked from the blond's wounds. 

"So, your mom did this to you?" 

He nodded. "Yeah." 

Griffin did not interrogate him further, but David figured he'd want to know what had happened, so he decided to spill it all out. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he closed his eyes for a brief moment and remembered just what had taken place only fifteen minutes ago.

"She did not use the rod," he mumbled. 

The fact that his mother had not brought the hatred tool had surprised him and deep inside he knew that if she had, he would have been long gone now. She had, however, brought throwing knives and a gun. Weapons he definitely did not underestimate. 

At least not when she used them like she did. 

David had been cut pretty bad several places and the red marks covering his body were all but hurting.

Who the hell knew his mother was such a fighter? 

He looked up as the brunet uttered a faint humming sound. Noticing the intensity in Griffin's stare, he realized he had zoned out. 

"Uh," he began, "she brought knives though, and a pistol." 

The Englishman smacked his tongue, "no rod, huh? Why d'you reckon?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is that she fought like a friggin' superhero and that I would have been dead if she wanted me too." 

Griffin frowned. "Why did you not Jump?" 

David shook his head faintly. "I don't know. Guess I was too shocked to actually do anything but fighting back."

"I see." 

"Ah!" He hissed, when another particularly deep sweep of the cloth made his insides churn painfully.

"But for God's sake David! Be still or I'll just end up hurting you more!" 

There was anger in Griffin's voice now and something the blond could not place.

_Hurting you more?_

He furrowed his brows. 

_What the hell is that supposed to mean? _

He scowled. "As if you'd care!" 

Before the words had fully left his mouth, he knew he should not have uttered them. Griffin's eyes narrowed dangerously and his lip twisted in a sneer. Then, before David could prevent it, the brunet threw aside the bloodied cloth in a forceful manner. 

"Fine!" He growled and turned to leave, "be that way!"

David could not understand what went through him just then, because in seconds he was standing on his feet and was moving towards the angry Englishman.  
He caught up with him an in a hurried motion, lay a hand on the other's shoulder and spun him around. 

Eyes locking with ocean ones, he inhaled deeply before speaking. 

"I'm sorry. All right?" 

He knew that other man probably found him to be pretty pathetic, but there was little he could do about that now. Sighing, he gave the somewhat bony shoulder in his grasp a faint squeeze. 

"I don't think you want to hurt me, and I was acting like a jerk. I'm sorry. Please don't leave?

He gave a small shrug and used his free hand to gesture towards his abdomen, "these wounds needs care and I'm afraid I'm too much of a pussy to take care of them myself, so—" 

"Shut up." 

There was definitely amusement in Griffin's voice, but he tried to cover it up with a snort. 

"Just shut up David. Okay?" A vague smirk played in the corner of his mouth, "you're whining like a little girl." 

David could not refrain from chuckling. "Yeah..." 

They shared a moment of silence.

"So, shall we continue then?" 

Griffin made his way back to the sink, picked up the cloth and drowned it in cold water.

"I need to wash away some of that blood," he pointed towards David's stomach, "to see if there are more severe cuts or damages."

David cleared his throat. "Sure."

"Will you please sit down again?" The word 'please' sounded foreign coming from the brunet, but David did as he was told none the less. 

He moved back to his former seat, the toilet, and sat down. Griffin was with him soon after and once again, the piece of fabric was ascended to his torso. From there, the brunet patted the cloth downwards and gently wiped away some of the red fluid before cleansing the cloth in the sink again. 

Then, he started over and slowly, but surely the blood was removed from his skin.

As the other Jumper kept cleaning him, David could only regard Griffin and wonder how on earth the man was capable of being so gentle. The brunet always seemed so edgy and harsh, yet, here he was, treating David's injuries with hands as soft as rose petals.

_Strange._

Although, the touches felt oddly comforting and he tried to ignore the urge to close his eyes and lean back. Despite the occasional pain, being taken care of like this made his chest swell in an extremely weird way and he tried to remember the last time he had felt so content. 

He wanted to laugh at his own stupid thoughts, but the laughter got somewhat stuck in his throat and he bit his tongue bewildered instead. 

What kind of situation had he gotten himself into?

"So, what did she say?" Griffin's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Your mother that is."

David lifted his head to look at him and when their eyes met, a vague smirk manifested itself on the blond's features. 

"You're gonna love this."

* * *

A/N: Sorry if you think it is boring, cause it shall not be! Anyway, hope you liked at least a bit of it! 


	7. Chapter 7

**Warnings:** Slash

**Disclaimer:** Not mine

**A/N:** So, this chapter came out a bit late, but really, it's worth it; I've got it betaed! The sweet Becky Greenleaf helps me out with the damn language among other things and she's just awesome! it must be one hell of a job, considering my sometimes pretty confusing writing, but she has done a wonderful job!  
Therefore, this chapter is dedicated to her! Thanks honey!

And as for all of you; THANK YOU! I never imagined having this many reviewers! You rock! I love it when you point out mistakes and it really helps me write better! (At least a tiny bit, seeing as I'm pretty dense like that... Heh!)

The next chapter shall be ready for betaing by the end of next week hopefully, so until I get it back and post it;

Enjoy yourselves!

* * *

**The Solitude of Heart**

_Chapter Seven_

_"Nightmares"_

"You're gonna love this."

Griffin raised a delicate brow before throwing the cloth away, proceeding with grabbing the bandages he had fetched from the medication-locker earlier. Armed with a clean cotton wipe, he began to attack the open cuts again.

"Really?"

David could not refrain from chuckling. "Yeah. You'll be thrilled."

He paused, wincing a little when the other man started to drown his wounds in antiseptics once more.

"Remember what you said about the Paladins attacking the other Jumpers before us?"

A frown. "Yes?"

"Well... You were right."

* * *

"_Why the fuck are you doing this?" _

_A mocking smile cruelly twisted onto his mother's lips. A smile that he figured to be somewhat fake, as if she was forcing it to appear. She bent down to his level and grabbed his hair, forcing his head up from the floor._

"_Why I'm doing this?" She growled and threw another punch, making him groan in pain when it collided with his abdomen. "Because I have to son! I follow orders and unlike you I try to avoid trouble." _

_Feeling the air fill his lungs once more, the Jumper gritted his teeth. "So you'd kill your own child just to avoid trouble?" The words came out harsh, edged a barely disguised hurt. "How very honorable of you!" _

_She punched him again and this time, his insides curled at the pain. He felt like throwing up, but hell if he was going to puke in front of her. That would just make her victory bigger. _

"_How dare you speak of honor?" Anger; he could hear its tremor in her voice. Her tone was reproachful and every single syllable quivered with a pent-up rage. The grip on his hair tightened._

"_You have absolutely no right to judge me David! And whatever you might feel about this, it can't be helped that I am a Paladin and you a Jumper!" She brought the knife to his throat again and he could feel how it sunk into his flesh, causing blood to flow in small, heated rivers down his skin._

"_So that's it, huh?" He choked out, his vision blurry from the pain the knife brought along, "you're gonna kill me. Just like that?" _

_He scowled inwardly and thought sardonically, **how ironic**. He was about to be killed by his own mother, the one who had indeed provided him with a chance to live. He guessed, in a twisted part of his mind, it was her right after all. She had given him life and now, she was taking it away. It was as simple as that. _

_David swallowed, feeling the icy metal sinking further into his skin, making dots of lightning dance before his eyes. He did not want to die. He knew that now, and with a rising panic he fought the urge to scream. There was no way he was getting out of this one. He was about to die and that was the harsh and unyielding truth. _

"_There are always consequences." Roland's words echoed in his mind._

_Yes, he thought bitterly. At least, the maniacal bastard had been right about one thing. David was a Jumper and had led a life like one too and now he was about to pay for his actions. He was about to receive the punishment. The consequences._

"_You're gonna kill your own goddamn son just because you were told to!" His voice was barely a hiss, his disdain punctuating every syllable._

_Mary's eyes found his and for a moment, her hand stilled and the cut was left alone, bleeding and burning like a thousand bonfires. Then, the knife was tossed aside, and still with his gaze trapped, she shook her head fiercely. _

"_No." _

_He managed to raise his brows in confusion. "No?" _

_His ears must have decided to deceive him. There was no way she wasn't about to kill him. Hell, he had a gaping slit across his throat to prove his point. _

_Somewhat in awe, he noticed how her eyes suddenly softened and just for a split second, he thought he saw something akin to sorrow in their depths. But only for a moment. Just when he registered it, whatever it was vanished and her stare became vacant._

"_I said no. I am not going to kill you David." _

"_Then what—" _

"_I'm here to inform you about the fact that we are once again after you and your kind. And that now, we are stronger than before. Either, you can give up the fight and accept your fate, or you can stay persistent and suffer the consequences."_

_There was that word again, 'consequences'._

"_I never wished for this to happen," she sneered, "and I most certainly had nothing to do with you gaining the abilities to Jump!" _

_She paused and suddenly, she released him and got up. Showing the gun roughly back into it's holster, Mary bent down to pick up the bloodstained knife from the floor._

"_God knows whatever omnipotent power hates my guts badly enough to ruin my life like this!" Her expression turned into one of utter weariness and she brushed the dust of her clothes in an exasperated motion._

_As her words clarified themselves in his mind, the Jumper could only stare wide-eyed at his mother. _

"_What?" _

_She turned to look at him and with another frown, she gestured towards him with the hand that was not occupied fiddling the knife. "_

_You're my kid David and believe me or not, but I'm not exactly overly happy with the knowledge that I've made a promise to track down and kill all of your kind."_

"_So," he croaked, "you're not here to—" he coughed, "to get rid of me?"_

_Mary shook her head once more. _

"_No. As I said before: I'm here to warn you. Not because I felt like it, but because I was given the orders to do so." She paused and a thoughtful expression grazed her features. "I don't really know why he doesn't want you dead right away, but—" _

"_And by 'he" I take you mean Roland?" He interrupted her, still having a hard time talking._

_His mother snorted, ignoring the sharpness in his voice. _

"_Yes. Now, like I said, I have no idea of why he doesn't want me to kill you today. He simply told me to find you and tell you what I have just told you." She shrugged before wiping her forehead, where a shiny layer of sweat was visible. Clearly the fight had taken it's toll on her too. _

"_He also told me to inform you that it won't be useful for you to try to team up with other Jumpers. We are hunting down all of them, and if you should interfere, we won't hesitate to kill you too." She smirked at him, "Or your sassy friend." _

_David's eyes widened. "Don't you dare touch Griffin!" _

_His mother actually looked surprised by his little outburst, and quite frankly, he was too. _

"_So he was right then?" She sounded rather amused, "you really have befriended the disaster?" A small, nearly incredulous laugh followed. "That's almost funny."_

_David didn't bother to reply. In fact, he did not know how to, but his mother didn't need to know that._

"_Well," Mary continued and her voice was once again emotionless, "that was all."_

_A moment of silence passed and the blond just glared at her. Then, he swallowed roughly and rolled over to his side, noticing how the blood pooled on the floor beneath him._

"_Thank you then!" He spat, and he saw her eyes narrow dangerously at his tone. She stepped a few inches closer to him and gazing down at him, she opened her mouth to speak._

"_No need to thank me son. I'm sure you'll find the information useful, but you should keep in mind that sooner or later we'll meet again, under circumstances much heavier. And when that time comes," she stared intensely at him, "I won't be this gentle."_

* * *

"I knew it!" Griffin snarled as he knitted the last loose shred of bandage on David's upper arm. It had taken quite the time, but by now, all the cuts were cleaned and patched.

"They are going to take out all the other Jumpers before us!"

The bruised Jumper gave a confirming nod. He had shared the whole story about his meeting with Mary and now, Griffin's ocean eyes were darkened with the knowledge and his cheeks slightly flushed.

"Why?"

David shook his head in bewilderment. " I don't know... Maybe," he offered, "Roland wants to deal with us himself?"

The other Jumper's eyes met his. "You think so?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, looked down and furrowed his brows.

"Hn," he mused, "that could be it." After a long pause, he lifted his gaze once more. "It's possible that he wants a decent revenge."

David nodded slowly. "Yeah."

The Englishman stared at him for a moment and for some weird reason, the Jumper felt his stomach curl under that piercing gaze. After a, in David's opinion, far too lengthy pause, an unnervingly eerie smirk manifested itself on Griffin's lips.

"In that case..." Chills ran down David's spine at the tone he used, "we'll at least give him a decent try."

David was about to reply when all of a sudden, his eyes slipped out of focus. Inhaling deeply, he felt how his mind got all foggy and his vision suddenly blurred like a broken TV. Gasping, he tried to hold onto something, but his hands only managed to grasp the air before he fell.

His brain shut down before he hit the floor.

* * *

_Soft hands upon his skin._

_Warm, soft hands. Caressing him with an almost frightening tenderness. __Leaving burning traces behind, making his skin glow in numerous places. _

_A pattern of touches, all made by those incredibly warm hands.  
__Hands that could, with a single movement, make his insides melt._

_Yet, he knew that despite their warmth, these were the hands of a killer. _

_Calloused, strong hands, scarred by all the lives they had taken, ruined or claimed back. Marked by the way their owner used them. By what he used them to commit. _

_Murders._

_Yes, these were definitely the hands of a murderer and yet they were gentler than any mother's. Mother? A part of his dulled mind snorted sarcastically. __Sure, he knew all about mothers did he not? At least about the bloodthirsty ones. The kind that wanted their sons dead. _

_The hands were there again. Stroking, touching, pressing._

_**Stop it!**_

_Delicate shapes drawn all over his bare skin. Symbols of a secret lust. A desire that was mirrored deep inside himself. A blazing, overpowering lust, that took his breath away and left him alone and naked in the dark, with no other presence than the feeling of lust itself._

_He wanted to lash out at those limbs. Cut them off, make them go away, unable to return. And yet, if they stayed away for just a little too long, he craved them and inserted all his willpower into the task of forcing them back._

_And they came. Stroking, touching, pre—_

"Ah!" David jolted awake with a loud gasp, eyes fluttering open, lips parted in a silent shout.

"_FUCK!"_

* * *

David wanted to throw up. Obviously, seeing as he was currently bending over the sink in Griffin's bathroom, trembling with the aftershock of that horrible dream.

_Yes!_ It had been horrible! Gruesome even!

How extremely pathetic could one possibly become? _Oh, I know_, he drawled angrily in his mind, just as pathetic as he was now!

That dream had come totally unwanted and indeed unexpected. First, he had been lying face down on the bathroom floor, passed out due to the loss of blood and the next thing he knew, he had woken up in Griffin's bedroom -apparently, the other man had carried him there after he'd passed out- from the most unnerving dream -scratch that, _nightmare-_, he had ever suffered from!

An arousing dream about Griffin?!

Griffin, for Gods sake! That annoying, self-absorbed, bratty, not to mention stubborn, Englishman was about the farthest one could get from arousing! Those two just did not mix!

Yet, only minutes ago, he had awakened on the idiot's bed, twisted in the sheets, sweating like he been running a marathon and panting on the same fashion! All because of said idiot. Apparently, Griffin was not the only one suffering from bad dreams.

_Damn! _

Out of all people, why would he dream about _Griffin?_

Not only was he a _man_, but he was also a man David did not even like!

Hell, he even wanted him dead only a year ago.

These facts clearly said something about their relationship, didn't it?

_Relationship! _

Fuck that word! Fuck what it meant and most certainly FUCK Griffin! And _no_, he did _not_ want to do that!

Slamming his hand against the sink, the intrigued Jumper scowled at his own reflection in the mirror. His eyes lay deep in their sockets and he had dark, blue bags underneath them.  
He looked as if he hadn't slept in days and the blond doubted he had ever seen himself this pale. He resembled a friggin' ghost! His libs were stiff from the fight and his wounds still ached.

He felt like shit.

What the hell had he ever done to deserve this? As if he'd not already had enough? He had just fought his own mother dammit! Well, he thought with a dripping sarcasm, even being killed by Mary would be more appreciated than this!

"_Don't you dare touch Griffin!" _

His own words from before seemed to laugh at him now and he was suddenly overcome with a strong urge to drown himself in cold water. Somewhere in his fuzzy mind, a small snigger erupted.

_Sure, that cold water would do you some good! You and your little problem down the—_

"Shut up!"

_How the hell was he supposed to face Griffin now? _

* * *

**A/N:** So yeah... That was it. Poor David, hehe.

So, in the next chappie, a certain brunette returns from her vacation and what happens when she finds-- haha, I'm not telling you! :Evil snigger:

Thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Warning: **Eventual slash

**Disclaimer: **Not mine!

**A/N:** I am SORRY! This was late, but I did not make my 'deadline' with my beta, so it was entirely my own fault. She was going away and I had a lot to do! I hope you have not abandoned me (or rather this fic!) Please forgive me for being so slow! It was finished week or so ago, but I wanted it beta-ed before I posted it, seeing as you all gave me so nice feedback!

Thank you so much Becky Greenleaf! You are the awesomest!

Now, please enjoy this and once again, sorry for the long wait!

* * *

**"The Solitude of Heart"**

_Chapter Eight_

_"Awkwardness"_

-

Griffin looked a bit sour when David entered the living room in the hideout. The other Jumper was sitting on the sofa, arms behind his neck, his muscles flexing under his tanned skin. He was shirtless and David all but squirmed when he laid eyes on the Englishman. He did not need to be reminded of that terrible dream. In fact, his mind was already occupied with said dream, but he did not need more wood to the fire now did he?

Said 'wood' just glared at him, and David vaguely wondered what was troubling him.

Oh, God. Griffin could not have heard him last night, could he?

The thought made David's insides curl and he had to fight the urge Jump his way out of his gruesome situation. He calmed himself down. Griffin could not have heard him. When David had passed by the couch on his way to the bathroom, the other man had been fast asleep and, therefore it was nearly impossible that he'd heard anything.

He wanted to throw something in Griffin's face, and the thought of the other Jumper's nose breaking made David feel a little better.

Not that he really wanted to hurt Griffin, but he most certainly found the thought of him suffering, faintly pleasing. He had, after all, been bothered with his stupid face all night, not to mention his damned hands. The dream was still clear as glass in his mind and even though he wished from the bottom of his heart that it would disappear from his memory, it simply wouldn't.

Whenever David closed his eyes, he would see were those sparkling, ocean eyes gleaming towards him, and the feeling of those warm, calloused hands caressing his body still lingered in his gut.

He still had no idea of where these feelings had come from. He was not attracted to Griffin and nor was he homosexual! Why would he dream of the aggravating English bastard like that? And Griffin out of all people?!

Had it been anyone else, David would have at least been able to muse upon it and then brush it off as a fever dream, caused by his current state. He had been ill, and his mind had not worked as it should, so weird dreams really could not be considered all that... yeah, weird. But this, this dream involving Griffin could not be ignored like that.

He did not tend to have so called 'wet dreams' and the fact that he had now had one about Griffin, out of all people, was more than unnerving. Actually, it was rather frightening and David felt sick just thinking about it.

He was not gay, and even if he was bisexual, he did not _like_ the other Jumper. Anyone, David thought , somewhat desperately, would fit better as the object of his desire. Even Mrs. Peel down the hall.

That considering the reek of cat-piss that always followed her around, undoubtedly from living with twelve cats.

All of a sudden, he noticed that Griffin had a small, painful-looking red mark on his face and the blond frowned faintly. What was that?

Approaching carefully, he winced when his foot collided with a table leg. The small whimper made Griffin's lip curve upwards just a little and the blond's gaze shot daggers his way. The glare only made the brunet's grin widen.

"What are you grinning about you damned son of a—"

"David!"

He turned sharply at the familiar voice and when he saw the speaker, he nearly choked on his breath.

--

_Griffin recognized her at once. When the door creaked open, his rising suspicion was confirmed at the moment the small, well-curved figure stepped inside the hallway._

_The bloodstained towel fell from his hand and came to lay in a heap on the still crimson floor. Swallowing, he watched her move out of the darkened entrance-room, until the sharp daylight coming from the living-room windows hit her. _

_She exactly the way he remembered her, except that maybe her hair was a little longer and her she seemed to have gained a slightly darker tan. Perhaps from all the traveling she had done with David over the past year. He could not remember what she had been wearing the last time he saw her, but now she was wrapped in a cherry red dress, the color of her clothing matching perfectly with the pool on the floor. She had not noticed him yet, but her brows were already furrowing as she noticed the broken furniture laying in front of her. As she was about to step over the now three-legged chair, she lifted her head and her chocolate eyes widened rapidly. She almost lost her balance and a high-pitched little whine erupted from her throat. _

_He did not move, as he seemed to have lost the ability to do so. All he managed was to stare at her, hoping that she would not draw conclusions from seeing the bloodied floor._

"_You!" She hissed and he could not help but cringe slightly at her tone. He had imagined this scene several times in his mind, except now it was not an imagination. The face that had been haunting him was now very present and he wished with all his heart that she could just vanish right away. This, he was not ready for._

"_What are you doing here?" She dropped the large bag she was carrying and it hit the floor with a loud thud. She looked frightened and her mouth hung open, making her appear somewhat shocked. _

_He did not blame her though. Seeing him had to be quite unnerving, considering what kind of impression he had made the last time they met._

"_What are you doing here?" She repeated, voice trembling from what he assumed were both fear and anger. Just as she said it, her gaze fell on the red stains on his shirt and hands. Then, it traveled to the floor and he watched her expression shift from anger to utter fear._

"_David!"_

--

"Millie?!" His voice came out in a hoarse cry, and he cleared his throat before speaking up again. "Millie! What are you doing here?"

It was indeed Millie who was standing in the bathroom doorway, face shining with happiness. Her hair was wet, and David therefore assumed she had taken a shower. She was wearing one of Griffin's shirts— wait what?

The large gray tee was way to big for her, and it reached all the way to her knees. Her clothing made her appear even smaller than she was in reality.

David gaped at her despite himself.

What on earth was going on?

Before he could collect his thoughts, she leaped at him and threw her arms around his neck. Her small form pressed up against him and he was left breathless for a couple of seconds. What was his girlfriend doing here? In Griffin's place? Wearing Griffin's clothes?!

So many questions ran through his head at that precise moment, that he could not even find his voice to ask them. It was all just a blurry mass and he was sure he was going to pass out any minute. His wounds were still throbbing and he suspected he was still suffering from a rather severe blood loss. His head was spinning and everything was a blurry mass around him.

Then, he realized he was holding Millie in his arms, and suddenly it was as if he woke up. Inhaling deeply, he locked his arms around her back and drew her closer, until her nose was safely buried in the crook of his neck. He kissed the top of her head and smelled the scent that was so utterly her. Pineapple and mint.

No, wait. He stepped back a little and frowned. Why did she smell so different? He sniffed a little as she shifted in his arms.

Did—?

He shook his head. Did she smell like Griffin?

--

_She ran forwards and fell to her knees in front of him. Reaching out with trembling hands, she clutched his shirt and yanked him by the collar, the somewhat stiff fabric cutting into his neck. Her eyes were already filling with tears and she was by now shaking like a leaf in strong wind._

"_Where is David?!" She screeched, voice cracking more with each word, "what did you do to him?!" _

_Griffin was too startled to reply, or give any kind of response at all. All he did was stare at her. The little minx was furious and he had to admit that he was actually rather affected by it. Seeing her like this made his stomach clench painfully._

_She slapped him. Hard._

_His cheek burned, but still he could not find his voice._

"_Where's David?!" She yelled again, this time even louder. He supposed he should answer her, unless he wanted to end up in the same condition that David was in right now, but he really did not know how. _

_What was he supposed to tell her? And how?_

"_I—" he began, but his tongue curled and he lost his speech once more. _

"_Yes?!" _

_She was panicking now, and the grip on his shirt tightened threateningly. Perhaps he should just let her strangle him and this whole thing would be over._

_He actually felt bad for her and really wanted to let her know that her beloved blond was all right, but he had no idea of where to start! Apparently, she thought he had hurt him, something that he supposed did not seem all that unlikely at all. The last time they met, he had for the record, tried to beat the shit out of him because he had wanted to save Millie._

_Boy, he really needed to fix this._

_Unsure of what to do, he seized her hands and pulled them away from his neck. If she suffocated him, she would never know where David was._

"_Calm down okay?!" He had not meant it to come out so harshly, but there was nothing he could do about that now._

_He grabbed her by the shoulders and roughly set her in place. She gasped in a mixture of terror and surprise and tried to pry his hands away, but he was determined not to release her. She would probably just hit him again._

_He grimaced at the memory. That, he most certainly did not want. He understood that he had to let her know everything was fine. And he had to do it quickly._

"_Just calm yourself down woman!" The moment the words left his mouth, he knew they would not be welcomed. Her lips parted and her face twisted dangerously. She was going to snap._

"_Calm down?!" She howled, eyes burning with an intense fury. "You're telling me to calm down? Where the hell", she put grave pressure on the word, something that had Griffin thinking that she did not swear a lot, "is David?!"_

"_He's with me!"_

_The words she was about to scream at him died on her lips._

"_W—what?"_

--

"What is going on? Millie, what are you doing here? And how did you even get here?"

He could not believe this. Millie was here, in the cave! (He still called the hideout a cave, even though Griffin still stubbornly referred to it as a _lair_.)

The petite woman released him and placed a small peck on his chin.

"Oh, Griffin took me." She looked up at him and David's brows rose. His gaze moved to Griffin on the couch, who was now giving him a funny look.

"What?" He croaked, mind fumbling with this new, not to mention strange information. Griffin had been Jumping Millie here? What the?

Apparently, Griffin understood his confusion. "I went back to your place to clean up the mess."

"You did what?"

The Englishman sighed. "You told me where you live remember?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, "when I cleaned your wounds."

At his words, one of Millie's hands lifted and carefully, her fingers brushed his shoulder blade, where blood had soaked through some of the bandage. They needed to be changed.

As if Griffin had read his thoughts, he Jumped and soon came back with a clean, white strip.

"Here." He handed it to Millie who started to unfold it.

"So, you went back to the apartment to clean up? Why?"

Griffin gestured towards Millie and David turned to look at her in amazement.

"Her," he answered simply, "I figured you did not want her to come home to a war-zone."

David gaped. Griffin had thought of that? Since when did he even care about such things?

"You—you though about— that?" he stuttered, evoking a smirk from the brunet.

He decided to ignore it just for now. There were more important things to concentrate on.

Millie had by now removed the soiled bandage and he heard her gasp faintly when she saw the open cut slithering across his neck.

He ruffled her hear lovingly. "It's okay."

She nodded, still a bit pale, and started to patch him up again.

--

"_Why is he with you?!" _

_She was definitely not calming down, and Griffin felt panic rise within him. How was he going to get this woman to relax? Hadn't he just told her that David was all right?_

_He blinked. _

_No he hadn't. _

_He'd said he was with him. _

_Great, now she probably thought he had abducted him. _

_He shook his head and focused on the upset female in front of him._

"_Well," he began, voice faltering terribly, "he's with me, but he is fine!"_

_She gaped at him, as if she was trying to understand what he meant._

"_What are you saying?"_

_He sighed. Did he have to rattle her? Maybe then something would fall back into place in that pretty little head of hers. Right now she seemed to be in a state of severe shock. At least Griffin hoped so, or else she really was that._

"_He is all right!" Even to himself, Griffin found that he sounded exasperated. "He's at my place." _

"_Why?!" Millie all but shrieked at him. _

_Did this girl ever stop screaming? Could she at least shut up long enough to let him explain?_

"_Because he's wounded!" He blurted out, face flushed with irritation. _

"_Wounded?" Finally her voice lowered. Now it was merely a whisper. Her face seemed to have lost all color and for a moment, she reminded him of a deer caught in the headlights. _

Real smooth Griff, keep this up and she's going to faint soon!

_He forced his thoughts together. He really needed to explain himself now._

"_Yes, wounded. But" he shot in rapidly, as she swayed dangerously in his grip, "he's fine now! I took care of him. He's asleep."_

_Her mouth closed and her breathing seemed to ease._

_He hurriedly continued. "He got into a fight with his mother—" _

"_What?!" _

_Damn. She was freaking out again. _

_Her hands came back up and grabbed at his shirt insistently._

"_Ah! Fuck!" He hissed as multiple sets of pink-covered claws –that would be her nails— seemed to rip his skin to shreds._

_He was going to go insane. Or more likely, she would._

"_HE IS FINE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" _

_When her clutch became so tight that he thought his whole chest was going to be sliced open, he decided that screaming did not help._

--

"So, you went back. And?"

Griffin shrugged. "Well, I was trying to remove some of the damned blood on the floor." His eyes traveled to Millie's hands, currently working with the bandage.

"Your mother did one hell of a job. You could've made a swimming-pool out of all that liquid." His gaze hardened, and David found himself frowning a little. What was that weird expression?

He brushed it off. He could deal with it later.

"Anyway," Griffin continued, "just as I was cleaning it up, this one came bursting in." He pointed towards Millie who gave a shaky smile in return—she did what?

They were smiling at each other now? What had he missed?

... A lot apparently.

That made him think of something.

"What time is it?"

"Seven. You have been out all day."

David blinked. He had slept for that long? No wonder he was confused. Loads of stuff must have happened while he was asleep.

"So..." he started, trying to put all the pieces together. "You two met in the apartment." His gaze traveled between them. "That must have been..."

"One hell of a show, yes." Griffin stated dryly, eyes locking with Millie's. They both looked a bit sheepish and David's jaw only slackened.

This was really too strange.

Millie seemed to catch his bewilderment. She giggled a little and hooked some of her hair behind her ear. "Well, I walked in an he was there."

The amusement fell from her tone and she turned serious. "I saw all the blood and at first I thought—"

"That Griffin had harmed me."

She nodded. "Yes." Her lip quivered a bit and her expression faltered. She turned to look at Griffin, whom was wearing an oddly blank expression.

"I'm sorry," she breathed and bowed her head, "I know I shouldn't have blamed you right away, I just—"

Griffin cut her off by waving his hand dismissigly. "I know," he cleared his throat, "I probably would have thought the same thing. Besides, we're through discussing this, right?"

She pouted a little, but agreed silently.

The Englishman smirked.

"Try not to look so pitiful please?" Griffin sighed, a bit overdramatically, "it makes me wanna jump off a cliff."

Millie's face turned bright red.

"Argh!" Her hand collided with empty air as he Jumped to avoid her hand.

"Griffin!"

--

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the lack of slash and action, but there will be some! Promise!


	9. Chapter 9

**Warnings:** WILL BE SLASH! (Please, I know I'm delaying it, but I believe it is for the best! I do not want to rush it! I am terribly afraid that it will ruin the story!)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any o the characters, only the plot.

**A/N:** Thank you all for being so supportive! And my dearest Becky Greenleaf for doing the beta! She's amazing! I am sorry for being so slow, but this other plotline has been nagging me for a long time, none stop, so I had to write it down. (It's done now, so you won't be bothered anymore with it)! Hehe...

* * *

**The Solitude of Heart**

_Chapter Nine_

_"Chains"_

-

David sighed deeply, shutting the bathroom door behind him. Shuddering faintly in the cool air, he rubbed his neck and slid another hand through his semi-wet hair. The shower had felt wonderful, but the steaming water he had used had stung his wounds

As he walked into the room that served as the living room in the cave (lair was Griffin's description, not his!), he could hear Millie's excited voice, high pitched and quick, chatting about something he assumed had to be their latest trip to Paris.

David stopped dead in his tracks to listen and without knowing it, held his breath, perking up to hear their words. Millie kept chattering and her excitement caused his chest to swell pleasantly.

Griffin would reply slowly and in a monotonous voice, not sounding all that impressed. This made David's lip quirk a little and he pictured the other Jumper's face, bored and tired. In all the time he had known him, Griffin had not been the best listener. At least, he wasn't being a very good one at the moment.

However, Millie did not seem to mind, and judging by the way she sounded, she actually had quite a nice time telling the Englishman about that bald, big mouthed Italian guy who tried to steal her purse and at the same time, pry a giant, black dog on her. Griffin would occasionally give a little grunt or maybe even a snigger, to show her that he was following, but David knew he was most likely planning their next moves against the Paladins.

At this thought, David furrowed his brows in slight irritation.

He had also been trying to figure out how they could best handle their given situation. The meeting with Mary had been informative, but it had not given him any kind of peace at all. His mother had told him that Roland and his people were going after every single Jumper and that soon, David and Griffin's turn would come. In addition, she had warned him that if they tried to interfere, they would suffer the same fate as those poor Jumpers.

David had no clue what to make of this, and he had no idea how they should act. Surely, his mother had meant business, but was that enough to stay away? Should they simply lay low because of their own fear of getting killed? Or should they do the right thing?

David assumed the Paladins were keeping an eye out for them and knowing his mother, she would not hesitate to kill him if she had no other choice. Yet, whenever he thought about leaving the other Jumpers to their fate, his insides turned almost painfully and he was overcome with nausea. They were humans too for God's sake!

Feeling how he mentally was beginning to lose his balance, you may want to rework this part a bit. It's awkward! the Jumper took a couple of deep breaths. He needed to stop thinking about that for just a moment and talk to Griffin about it. Maybe the other man had some ideas.

David refocused his attention on the conversation taking place in the living-room.

It was strange really, hearing their voices mingle, knowing that they were indeed talking and had not tried to kill each other while he was gone. He had to admit that he had been somewhat concerned about leaving them alone on the couch.

His feet slid over the cold stone floor and he briefly wondered if he should ask Griffin for a couple of new socks. He had yet to return home, and his own pair had just received a royal wash in the sink. He bit his thumb and considered Jumping his way to the couch, when he heard Millie whine loudly, followed by a sound David, in the back of his mind, had been craving to hear ever since he first heard it, only days ago.

Griffin's laughter.

It came completely without warning and David almost choked when he heard it.

It was anything but what he associated with Griffin. It wasn't loud, forced or arrogant. Neither did he sound too cracked up or overly amused. It just... floated. Like waves, made by a swift wind. Waves that never really hit the shore, but just died slowly and gracefully before they reached it. It reminded David of the ocean which he saw so much of in Griffin's eyes.

The blond Jumper had no idea of what Griffin was laughing about, seeing as he had been too caught up in his own thoughts to actually listen to Millie's conversation with the Englishman. Yet, he felt the sudden urge to laugh as well, but dared not to, afraid of announcing his presence. He doubted that either of them would be too happy about his eavesdropping. Smirking, he decided to play a little trick on them and as the sound of Griffin's chuckles still echoed in his ears, he Jumped.

"Ah!"

Millie's surprised yelp and Griffin's abrupt choke told David that his little prank had worked out just fine. Smirking, absurdly proud of himself, he settled himself between the two of them on the couch and slung an arm around his girlfriend's waist. When he looked Griffin's way and their gaze met, he thought he saw a small glint of amusement in the depths of the other's eyes, but almost as soon as it appeared, it vanished. For a moment, David was drawn back to the memory of Griffin's laughter and eyes widening, he suddenly felt the urge to hear it again. He cursed himself for interrupting it and wished for a split second that he could set back time.

"David!" Millie's annoyed voice dragged his attention away from Griffin and he turned to look at her, a sheepish smile forming on his face. "Haven't I told you not to Jump your way all over the house?"

She gave him a pointed look and he thought he heard Griffin snigger a little. The jerk.

"That was not necessary, now was it? You could have just walked like any other normal human being!"

"Normal?" Griffin had raised a brow and his trademark smirk was clearly evident on his smug face.

David glared at him, but was brutally pulled around by Millie and was forced to look at her once more. He had known this was going to happen when he first decided to surprise them, but nevertheless, he did not appreciate the fact that his neck felt like it had just snapped. Well, one did not fool around with Millie if one had any sort of desire to keep one's limbs intact.

"Just because you are able to teleport, you should not use that gift of yours so recklessly!" She stopped him from retorting by placing an elegant finger on his lips. "You should be more grateful, you know."

"She's right Dave!" came Griffin's mocking input. "You should really be happy about the fact that people are trying to kill you because of it too!"

David actually chuckled at that, but was abruptly cut off by Millie, whose hand darted out and around him and smacked the other Jumper over the head.

"Argh! Cut it out Griffin! You're not helping!"

"Didn't plan too either." came the teasing reply.

David knew that if Millie had been standing now, she would have stomped her foot.

--

"_Was that all, Mary?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Well. I am pleased with you. You did a good job, just as I would have expected from someone like yourself. If you have no further information, we'll hang up now and I'll see you at the meeting point tomorrow night. Be sure to bring your rod."_

"_Sir?"_

"_Yes, Mary?"_

"_Sir, I've been meaning to ask you a question." _

"_And what may that question be precisely?" _

"_Are you planning on killing my son, or is it something else you want entirely?"_

"_Why would you ask?"_

"_Because... As your servant, it's only—"_

"_Don't lie to me, Mary. I've known you far too long for that to work. Now, tell me, why is it that you want to know this?" _

"_Well, my son is not exactly the apathetic person and he's got a strong sense of justice. If you're planning on taking his life or the lives of the ones he care about, he'll surely fight you. You know he will not just stand and watch and it's unlikely that the other one—" _

"_Leave him out of it." _

"_But—" _

"_Trust me, Mary. I know how to take care of him. He's worthless. Besides, he won't try to do anything." _

"_May I ask why we are keeping him alive then?" _

"_Even though you may have crossed the line by asking me that, I will not punish you. As a matter of fact, I am going to answer your question in honestly. But before I do, there is something I want you to think about."_

"_Sir?" _

"_That night in Manchester, when we were following those two resistance people. Do you remember the phone-call we achieved from HQ? The one that spoke of another child?"_

"_Yes, Sir. I remember that but I don't understand what that has got to do with anything—"_

"_That was his sister." _

"_His si— Sir, what are you trying to say?" _

"_Well... She wasn't sent away, nor was she killed."_

"_Are you telling me she's alive? After all these years?" _

"_Yes."_

"_But that's impossible! It hasn't been any records about that! The reports say we took out all of them except the boy! The reports say—"_

"_The reports are false."_

"_Sir, why are you telling me this?"_

"_That's why he hasn't come after us yet. He knows we have her." _

"_He knows?" _

"_Yes. And therefore he will most likely be careful when it comes to attacking us."_

"_But how? How does he know?" _

"_Let's just say I gave him the message and made sure it could not be misunderstood." _

"_When?" _

"_Oh, just after our little visit." _

"_You mean you went back there?" _

"_Yes, Mary. Now if you would please let me get to the point." _

"_Yes. I'm sorry Sir." _

"_That's all right. Now. I told him that we have her, and that she will not be harmed as long as he keeps his head cool. That is why he hasn't already attacked us. Griffin is not usually the slow type, never was either. However, now that we have his precious little sister, he is simply afraid of acting, seeing as that might just lead to her death." _

"_You told him that?"_

"_Yes. And by doing so, not only did I prevent him from striking but I also assured that your son will stay out too. Even though the two of them may not like each other all that much, they will cooperate, and if Griffin keeps David from trying to stop us—"_

"—_then we'll have enough time to take down the other Jumpers." _

"_Exactly." _

--

"So, you seem to be spending quite a lot of time with my girlfriend. Should I be worried?"

Griffin looked a bit taken aback for a few moments but quickly regained his composure and a small, mischievous smirk manifested itself upon his lips.

"Well," he said, reaching into the fridge, grabbing a can of beer which he tossed to David, "perhaps you should, Blondie. I never said I'd be all yours."

David's mouth fell open and for a split second, his ears felt as if they were on fire.

"W-what?!"

The Englishman simply grinned at him and popped his own beer before taking a deep chug. When he removed the can from his lips, he gave a faint chuckle and placed it on the counter beside him. "Really David, you should see your face right now! I had no idea you could blush such a pretty shade of pink."

The taller Jumper scowled at him. "Fuck off, jerk!" The comment was followed by a rather ugly hand-gesture, to which Griffin merely shrugged.

"Whatever..."

David decided to ignore his irritating behavior and focused on the thing he had been meaning to ask Griffin about all day. He had not gotten the chance earlier, seeing as he'd wanted to keep Millie as far out of it as possible. But, now while she was taking a nap in the bedroom, he felt it was the right time to do so.

"Griffin?"

"Hn?"

"Are we going to go after them?"

Ocean eyes flashed darkly at him, but shifted rapidly, so that they again appeared harmless. "No."

"What?"

Griffin shrugged faintly and turned back to the fridge as if the conversation had never taken place. "No. I said no."

David set the can he was holding aside and threw his hand out, catching Griffin by the shoulder.

"But why not? We've already seen what they are capable of! You know they're not joking about killing off all the Jumpers!" Griffin's expression did not change but David felt as if he had to finish his point. "Besides, you don't mean we should obey them, do you? Are we seriously gonna just sit and watch while our kind is being slaughtered?"

"Of course not!" Griffin suddenly bellowed and David took a few steps back, startled by his outburst, "but we can't risk our own lives or the lives of those we care about just to serve some greater good!"

David, now flushed and heated around the ears slams his fist into the counter. "Then what are we supposed to do, Griffin?! Just wait? Dammit, we can't do that anymore! After Mary told me that they are planning a massacre I became even more determined to stop them! We can't let them do this! We just can't!"

"Don't you think I bloody well know that David?!" The brunet all but yelled back. "Don't you think I am aware of what's at stake? Do not take me for a fool! I know perfectly well what is going on and there's nothing I want more than to stop it! However, I harbor the sanity to understand that nothing we do right now will ever be enough to help those Jumpers out there!"

He drew a deep, exasperated breath and dropped his shoulders a little. "There's nothing we can do David. Nothing. Not yet."

There was a moment of silence and David felt as if a herd of hungry predators had started tearing his gut apart. Griffin looked exhausted.

"Look if you care about Brownie in there," he gestured towards the bedroom, "you'll not get yourself involved in this unless you have absolutely no choice."

David gritted his teeth. Somehow he knew Griffin was right about that, but yet he felt as if he was letting go of everything he had ever believed in. Even though he had not been quite honorably as of late, David Rice did have a strong sense of justice and something inside of him curled painfully at the thought of not trying to stop the cruelties that were about to take place.

Others should not have to suffer because of his lack of balls!

He bit his lip and his eyes fell to the floor. "I know... It's just—"

"I know." David was greatly startled as a hand pressed against his shoulder and warmth slowly spread through the cotton fabric. He looked up in bewilderment and found those incredibly blue eyes only inches from his. It shocked him a little and he was about to withdraw from the touch when he saw a faint flicker of something akin to pain in those sparkling depths.

Frowning in concern, David cocked his head faintly.

"Griffin?" It came out hoarse and David cursed himself for not being able to control something as simple as his own voice.

The other Jumper, currently cupping his shoulder, took a deep breath.

David found himself lost, staring at his face. Griffin regarded him for a couple of seconds before his hand gave a faint squeeze and all of a sudden, his head fell forwards and before David could understand what had happened, he was pressing his face into the crook of David's neck.

He stayed like that for a brief moment. Then his hand came up and gave the blond a sharp clap on the back before he pulled away from the awkward hug.

"Look," Griffin all but whispered, "I can hardly stand this wait and there's nothing I want more than to stop this madness. But," he sighed, "we all need to think about what matters to us, right?"

David swallowed before answering. "I guess so..."

A nod. "And that's why I need you to stay calm Dave."

_Dave? _

"I can't risk you or anyone else getting hurt."

He furrowed his brows again.

_Well this was something new entirely._

A/N: Please tell me if there is anything you do not like and advices are always welcomed!

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

**Warnings:** :Hides:

**Disclaimer:** :From afar: Not mine!

**A/N:** I am so sorry for the long wait. I feel like beating myself to a bloody pulp and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Finals and homework are BAD excuses, but they're the only ones I've got. Gomennasaii!!

I never want to take a look at this ever again, so don't bother pointing out mistakes cause I won't correct them. Now, someone shoot me, and please read the author note at the bottom of the page.

* * *

**The Solitude of Heart**

Chapter Ten

_"Filler, not even worthy a title"_

-

The first time David took Millie to the Canary Islands, she had been thrilled. The petite brunet had been talking about how much she wanted to go there ever since she was a kid, and David remember how she had once even tricked him to believe that she was going to move there with her family. He had been devastated for an entire week, before she finally told him it was all a lie.

Or, as she'd so smoothly put it back then; a small overstatement caused by her desperate wish to go there.

He had forgiven her that time, like he always did and through the years she'd kept blabbering about the islands, saying that one day, she'd just grab her stuff, leave and never come back.

Even after she'd grown up, had tossed those fantasies away and found out that leaving home like that was something she would never really do, she'd wanted to go there and David knew she had never really let go of that wish.

Therefore, the Jumper had decided to take the matters in his own hands, or rather to take Millie in his arms and take her there.

He had done all the packing behind her back and waited for her to come home from work.

When she did, he surprised her by blinding her and Jumping her straight to the beach, where he'd rented a small, white bungalow holding nothing but a kitchen, a bathroom and a giant, double-bed.

It had been nothing short of paradise really, and the time they'd spent down there would forever stay clear as daylight in his mind.

Lazy days at the beach, piña coladas and midnight-bathing.

Millie had tried to force him into swimming naked once at the local beach at home, but he had refused and ignored her begging and ranting about how romantic it would be.

However, during their vacation at the Canary Isles, David had gotten more or less used to the topic, seeing as Millie had finally managed to trick him out in the water, wearing nothing at all. He'd been rather skeptical at first, but once the two of them was securely floating between the waves, he had been introduced to the benefits of skinny-dipping, by a very happy, very mischievous Millie.

After that time, David Rice had never really paid attention to bathing shorts, cause whenever he felt like swimming, he'd just grab his girlfriend and Jump them to the first deserted beach that came to his mind.

"What are you smirking about?" Millie's voice sounded from his left.

David chuckled a little before tearing his gaze away from the fuzzy beach-towel that had sent him down memory lane, and focused on his girlfriend.

She was currently watching him in the mirror in Griffin's bathroom, while squeezing toothpaste onto her brush, the white, thick substance slowly sticking to the pointy plastic fur. Her chocolate eyes were fixed on him and a questioning look grazed her delicate features. She was wearing another one of Griffin shirts and the size was all but fitting. David himself was in nothing but a pair of the Englishman's old slacks, his torso bare before going to bed.

"Oh," he replied somewhat puzzled, "nothing really..." He smiled, "nothing important at least."

He reached for his toothbrush and silently motioned for her to hand him the paste. She did and he thanked her with a small peck on the lips before starting to brush his teeth.

They were about to go to bed for the night, and David wondered if Griffin was already asleep. They had been spending the day in the cave -and yes, it was a cave, not a lair-, making plans for the following days. Griffin, who actually seemed quieter, less obnoxious than usual, had made it completely clear that he was not going to partake in any kind of attack against the Paladins and he had, more than once, assured David and Millie that staying low and calm was the best thing to do right now.

However, he had agreed to do a little research with David the following day, to figure out more about the situation.

They were to find out how many of the Jumpers that had been taken and if there had been any severe battles that might have reduced the Paladins. Millie had not liked the idea of them leaving the safety of their hideout, but also she understood the importance of such a mission. They had to gather as much information regarding their enemy as possible, but they were going to do it as quiet as possible, without causing any commotion. Like Griffin had said; they were going to use their abilities to the fullest. They would be swifter than lightning and no one was going to notice them. They would be invisible to human eyes.

None existent.

It would be a though mission, and even Millie had agreed not to come. He knew there was nothing in the world she'd want more than to follow them, but her safety was the most important issue. If anything was to happen to her, David would never forgive himself, and Millie knew this. He suspected that was one of the reasons as to why she hadn't fought their decision more fiercely. She did not share their gift, and bringing her along would make a prospective runaway harder.

Besides, with only himself and Griffin to worry about, the stress factor would be lowered, and their task easier.

They were also going to pick up some stuff from David's apartment. Mostly clothes and hygiene articles. Seeing as Mary had already been in there, it was not too likely that they would come again, but they were not to take any chances. Therefore, Millie had written a list of things they were going to bring, to make the job go faster.

Once he was done brushing his teeth, he raked a hand through his hair and watched how his sandy locks bounced back into place just after he'd touched them. His hair was stubborn like that.

Glancing over at Millie, whom was washing her face at the moment, he wondered what it would feel like to have such silky, and slick hair like hers. Hair that did not make it's own rules. That obeyed you and looked the same either it was wet or dry. With a bemused little smirk, he pictured Griffin and the way his hair looked after a fight. It was disheveled as hell, and at times, it seemed to have a life of it's own.

He almost laughed, but managed to hide his amusement with a small snort. Millie looked up at this and lifted a brow, but when he did not acknowledge her, she just shrugged and continued to scrub her face with a cloth.

At the sight of the white cotton against her milky skin, he suddenly came to think of when Griffin cleaned his wounds after the fight with his mother. Even if those hands weren't Griffin's, not even similar, small, and pale as their were, he could not help but thinking back.

Feeling how his heart sped up, he remembered the brunette's gentle, almost soft strokes when he was washing away the blood, and as his face grew hotter, images from the dream he had been trying to forget about ever since it happened, popped into his mind.

_Calloused hands faintly brushing his bare skin._

_Touching, stroking, pressing._

_Hands of a murderer, softer than a child's._

_Yet far stronger. Hands like that could make anyone succumb to their touch._

Sweat started to pour from his forehead and blood rushed through his veins like cars on the highway.

_Warm, quivering touches. Touches that had him gasping for air, that had his guts stirring like a pile of poisonous snakes._

_Sparks of something deep, dark an powerful._

_Fire._

He didn't realize that he was trembling before Millie placed a somewhat cool hand on his naked shoulder and gave it a faint squeeze. He jumped at the contact and knocked over the half-full glass of water on the shelf below the mirror. It dropped into the hard, porcelain sink and shattered, sending sharp, glimmering pieces flying around them. Instinctively, he closed his eyes and while he heard Millie give a startled yelp, he raised an arm to cover his face.

He was lucky. The blow was not hard enough to damage the sink itself, something David was more than grateful for. He could only imagine Griffin's reaction if his sink was suddenly destroyed. He would have gotten furious, no doubt, and an angry Griffin was never any good.

Well, he thought with a harsh scowl, if anyone was to blame, it was the Englishman himself!

Even if he was not physically -David cringed a little at the word- involved in the situation, he was indeed the reason behind David's clumsiness.

How the hell was he supposed to avoid accidents like that when he kept thinking about how good Griffin's hands felt against his skin? He groaned, and slapped his right cheek, causing Millie, whom was already picking up broken glass from the floor, to look up at him with a concerned look.

"Are you all right, David?" She asked, cocking her head a little, "you did not get any splinters in your eyes did you?"

He shook his head at her. "No, I'm fine. Just clumsy as hell."

She giggled faintly before returning to her task, "well, even heroes can be clumsy, right?"

David smirked, despite himself. "I'm not a hero Millie."

She stood up then, sharp daggers carefully piled up in her hand. Moving closer to him, avoiding the glass on the floor, she stood tiptoe and placed a kiss on his lips.  
"Maybe not," she all but whispered, "but you're my hero."

Slowly closing his eyes, he lifted a hand and carefully pulled her closer, so that their lips were pressed firmer together. Breathing out his nose, he tasted the mint on her tongue and smiled faintly when she moaned into the cavern of his mouth. The smell that was so utterly hers tickled in his nose and her soft hair brushed against his hand.

He felt himself forgetting about the broken glass, his mother, the mission and even Griffin.

Until the the door was flung open, revealing no one but the Englishman himself. Griffin looked disturbed, his hair was more than disheveled and a deep frown was evident on his face.

"What's going on in he—" Upon seeing the embracing couple, he stopped abruptly and let the rest of the sentence hanging in the air. His ocean eyes widened slightly and his mouth fell open just a tad, making him look kind of lost. For a moment he just stared at them, but when he realized what he was doing, he clasped his jaw shut and let his hand fall from the doorknob.

"I..." he started, eyes darting from side to side. He appeared to be at a loss of words and David felt somewhat in awe.

When did he usually keep quiet?

"I didn't mean to.. uh.. interrupt anything," he stared, voice strangely chapped, "I just... I thought I heard something break, and I wanted to make sure nothing was..." he trailed off, eyes traveling to the floor. David felt himself grow hot at this comment, seeing as it all of a sudden made him understand what kind of picture they made, half naked and kissing in the bathroom.

Quickly releasing Millie, he took a step back and shook his head, confused by the way his heart throbbed.

"No," he breathed, "you didn't interrupt anything."

Swallowing, he motioned for the broken glass in Millie's outstretched hand. "I just managed to knock this over."

He pointed at the sink, where more pieces of glass lay, covered in glimmering droplets of water. "Luckily, there was no damage on the sink."

"Oh..." Griffin said, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head, his deep, water-colored eyes traveling to meet David's with all the bluntness in the world, a dark, powerful fire burning within their depths.

It made David feel uncomfortable.

Griffin's gaze was intimidating, and truth to be told, it made David feel rather small. The brunet always had that effect on him, and even thought David hated to admit it, he felt as if those eyes ripped his very soul to shreds. He purposely ignored the other Jumper, pretending not to have noticed his obvious staring.

Even Millie seemed to notice the butter-thick tension hovering in the air. When it was apparent that neither Griffin or David was going to utter a word, she gave a nervous little chuckle, followed by a deep intake of breath.

"So..." she started, trying desperately to break the overwhelming silence, "were you going to bed, Griffin?"

At her words, the Englishman's head snapped up, his eyes catching hers. For a brief second, he looked somewhat confused, but just as David was about to ask him if he was okay, he gave a small nod and his trademark frown was once again evident on his features. "Well, yeah," he shrugged, "I was, but then I heard the sound coming from here."

"That was nice, Griffin." Millie smiled meekly at this and placed some of her hair behind her ear. "It was nice of you to come check upon us."

The way the pronounced the word "us" made David cringe for some weird reason and butterflies appeared in the pit of his stomach.

It felt alien somehow. As if it did not fit into the circumstances.

He knitted his brows, trying to decipher it, but a soft snort from Griffin pulled him out of his musings.

"Whatever," the brunette threw at her, obviously not comfortable with the almost loving way she addressed him. He cleared his throat and eyed her sharply for a moment. "I'm going to bed now. You guys be quiet when you leave the bathroom."

With a sour look, he pointed at the glass in the sink before he turned to leave. "And clean that shit up, will you?"

The door slammed in their faces, but the angry bang was not followed by the sound of footsteps. Instead, there was a loud crack and something that sounded like intense wind.

This, of course, was a sound David knew all too well.

It was the sound of a Jump.

* * *

Oo"

I know it sucks, **PLEASE don't kill me!!** I have a mother and siblings! They all need me!

:Faints:

This was very eventless, and there was no happening what so ever. I gues this is what we call a filler. FILLER. A BLOODY FILLER!!  
Again, please don't murder me. I want to live!!

The next chapter will be up soon!! And it will be beta-ed hopefully! I'm giving myself a deadline: NEXT WEDNESDAY! How does that sound? Okay, neh?

I understand it very well if you none of you guys want to pay a damned review to this piece of garbage, but a few kicks in the but would probably do me some good. Don't be afraid of yelling at me. You can hit me even.

... Just don't damage my hair. I love my hair.

In the next chapter, David and Griffin will start their little mission, and there will be less Millie for those of you who likes that!! Also, we will get to know more about this mysterious sister...


	11. Author's note!

Okay, so his is an **author's note**, not an update. I'm sorry about that, but I still hope you'll read it!

Well, thing is: I've almost finished chapter eleven, but I've been talking to my beta -God bless her and her awesomeness- and she says she'll be able to edit it in about a week. So, I know I made a deadline, but it is very important to me that I get it beta'ed. Therefore, I hope that you will not hate me when I say that the update will have to wait for another week. (Maybe shorter.)

**HOWEVER**, if it comforts you a lttle, I have posted a Jumper one-shot, _**Challenge**_. For those of you who doesn't know, it's on my profile! So, enjoy yourselves. Also, I have a surprise for you all! But you'll have to be a little patient!

Love you all!!

Naro


	12. Chapter 12

****

Warnings:

Slash

**Disclaimer:** Not mine

**A/N:** So! Here I am! And I've been having some internet troubles! Other than that: Here is the damned chapter! So... you'll find that I've used my references as a Norwegian, and I've actually used my knowledge of Oslo in here! So... here you go! I hope you like this!

Dedicated to Becky Greenleaf for being such a wonderful person! And to Jen, because I miss her!

* * *

**The Solitude of Heart**

Chapter Twelve

_"Stranger"_

-

Saying goodbye to Millie was hard, but David knew it had to be done. She had cried a little, and hugged him far longer than she actually had to, begging for him to comeback safe and sound. Even Griffin had received a hug and to David's surprise, he had not seemed to mind it all that much. He'd just given a small shrug, and attempted frown, and clasped her across the back. David had tried his best not to chuckle at the sight of his two comrades hugging, but Griffin had caught his look, and he'd been unable to keep a tiny smirk from forming on his lips.

The Englishman had glared at him, somehow clutching Millie a little tighter, and his eyes spoke a language of their own.

"_Open your mouth and I'll beat you up, Jump you to the moon and leave you there!"_

This, of course, only had him smirking further, but he had been smart enough to hold his tongue. Who knew what Griffin could actually do to him?

Before he left, he promised Millie that he would get her something nice from every place they went, even if it was the north pole. This had made Griffin roll his eyes and utter a small laugh.

"So you're gonna stuff your pockets with foreign objects and keep them there while we're fighting the Paladins?"

"Well no," David had answered in jest, "I was thinking about bringing a suitcase."

"Sure," Griffin played along, sarcasm staining every word, "cause that won't be a hinder at all."

"No," David had said in a squeaky, high pitched voice, "for a strong and handy gentleman like yourself, I'm sure it won't be a problem at all."

The joke had made them all laugh, and in that moment, with tears of amusement forming in their eyes, nobody thought about the previous evening and what had occurred in the bathroom.

David had tried to ask Griffin about why he Jumped last night, but the Englishman had been holding back his words, and not a single syllable had slipped his lips upon that matter. He didn't even say where he left, so David did not bother pushing him further.

He knew the limits, and was very much aware of what would happen if he crossed the line. Therefore, he kept silent about the whole incident, even though his mind screamed for knowledge. He had been lying awake all night, thinking about the brunet and where he was, wondering if he was okay or not. Not even when Millie had sneaked her arms around him and whispered in his ear that Griffin was probably all right somewhere, did he fall asleep. He just kept staring at the ceiling, musing upon the weird and mystical topic that was Griffin.

--

They had been traveling all day, and seeing as both David and Griffin kept away from their usual Jump-spots, it took more time to find a decent destination, not too far from the spot. Seeing as the Paladins probably knew most of their routes through the lands, they had to keep close to them, but still lay low. The whole point was to track down the bastards and observe them, not staying completely clear of them. So, instead of Jumping to their regular destinations, they Jumped to places nearby and continued to where they were going from there.

Even though the thought was to not get seen, David could not deny the fact that he was looking forward to experiencing some real action again. Besides from that fight with his mother -yeah, the one that nearly had him killed- He had not really been endangering himself a lot over the past year. When thinking about it, he realized that he actually missed using his body to the breaking point. Even if the consequences of doing so could be indeed deadly.

Before they left, Griffin had jokingly told him that he should try not to focus so much on the risks this mission held, rather just enjoy the fun part of it. Like getting a tan in the Egyptian desert, while trying to avoid drowning in your own sweat, or running from an angry group of Russian gangsters, shouting over your shoulder that you didn't mean to Jump right into a drug-dealing session.

The joke had him laughing and even though they did not encounter situations like that, he tried to remember the brunette's advice. The less he thought about the dangerous things, the happier he would be.

During their first few hours of searching, nothing special happened. The most exciting moment was probably the one where Griffin almost landed on the paws of a stray dog in an abandoned alley in Bangladesh, receiving more than a few bite marks. David had decided rather quickly that he'd dismiss the idea of laughing, seeing as the Englishman was literally seething with anger, and because he actually felt rather sorry for him. He did okay though, and after a couple of minutes with cursing, he seemed to be just fine. Well, except from the fact that his jacket was torn in several places.

When the night came, Griffin decided that they'd spent enough time outside, and as the stars started to show themselves on the dark, velvet sky, he turned to David with a small yawn.

"So, where do we sleep tonight?"

David, snapping out of his own thoughts, turned to look at him, ignoring the chilly wind that swept through his jacket and caused goosebumps to appear all over his skin. Stretching, the blond shrugged a little before returning his gaze to the flickering lights of Oslo, the capital of Norway.

From the roof of the new opera house, the city lay like a wide screen before them, and beneath them, consuming the white marble building like a black, glossy carpet, was the dark and silent sea.

They were only a few blocks away from one of David's jump-sites, a place he'd found in a magazine once. The big, hovering statue that resembled a tiger had drawn him to it, and he'd decided that he wanted to go there and see the iron beast with his own eyes.

He'd often returned to that spot, and often in the winter, although he wasn't sure of why. He liked it there. Especially when the snow was falling from the sky, coating the dirty streets like a white, fussy blanket.

Maybe there was something about the people. The moving, gray mass of faceless men and women, heavily clothed in the harsh, Norwegian weather.

Maybe it was the white, frosty breath that ascended from their mouths and nostrils, or the waving fur on their collars that seemed to have a life of its own. Maybe it was the city-panorama, the cars, the trains and the buildings. The flickering dots of red, green and yellow lights. Perhaps it was the feeling of being a stranger. An unimportant nobody in the middle of a crowd who didn't even speak his language on a daily basis.

He never stayed for long. Never took his time to walk into the shops, or to explore the area properly. All he usually did was standing there among them, taking in the pictures, the sounds and the smells.

Oslo didn't smell like any other city he knew. Sure, like every town, it held the smell of fuel, food, cigarettes and asphalt. But, alongside all that, there was something else.

A faint smell of something he could only describe as summer. Of cherries and warmed up grass.

He couldn't really describe it properly, but he knew it was there. It was more like a feeling than like a smell really and he was sure that if he ever told anyone about it, they'd laugh. Yet, despite of that, he was certain that he wasn't mistaking.

It was as if everyone else felt it too, as if the habitants of this cold and harsh city was also aware if it, somewhere in the back of their dulled, hardworking minds. It felt like they were also familiar with this feeling, this smell that seemed to surround them at all times, ghosting across their pale faces.

It was as if they were waiting...

"Hey!" Once again, Griffin's voice pierced through his thoughts and pulled him out of them.

"What?" He breathed back.

"I asked you a question earlier, remember?"

"Oh, yeah..."

Griffin raised a brow? "Yeah?"

The blond shrugged and waved his hand. "Anywhere is fine." He smirked a little, "it's not like we're gonna impress someone with the way we live."

"Sleep," the brunet corrected him, "the way we sleep."

David shrugged again. "Whatever."

They stood in silence for a little while, neither caring to open their mouths. Griffin was probably thinking about where to spend the night, his face lying in serious folds. The small frown it held and the way he bit his lip absentmindedly almost had David chuckling. He hadn't been really aware of these expressions before. It wasn't often one saw Griffin lost in thoughts like that.

Or...

He furrowed his brows a little. Actually, he mused, that was not entirely true. He had, in fact, seen this expression before, and quite frequently too. In the past few days, Griffin had often pulled faces like that. Suddenly, he remembered countless times where Griffin had looked somewhat out of it, like his mind was someplace far away. Swallowing faintly, he recalled how the brunet had looked only this morning, right before they left. He had been standing in the kitchen, staring at nothing, as if he was not really awake.

He'd seemed completely lost in thoughts. Dulled.

"I know of a place nearby. Not too shabby and really cheap. Only 500 kroner per night."

"Hn," David replied, crossing his arms over his chest to block out the night-chill. "Let's go then."

The Englishman nodded, and they were about to turn and Jump when bunch of flashing lights erupted not far away, and a high pitched, pained scream tore the air.

They spoke simultaneously. "The station."

Then, without other words, they Jumped to the roof of the train station, right above the huge tiger-statue guarding the main entrance.

He knew it was them even before he saw them.

_Paladins._

It was four of them. Standing around this young, skinny woman, all of them pointing their rods at her, holding her trapped in a deathly, electrifying web. She was kicking at them, twisting helplessly to get out of it, but the volts that ran through her body and the convulsions that followed had her crumbling in pain after every movement. It was obvious that she was outnumbered. Gritting his teeth in vain, David remembered how it felt to have that rod aimed at him and in the back of his mind, he felt the smell of burnt flesh and heard the cracking sound of electricity.

There was no mistaking about her identity. "She's a Jumper!" He exclaimed, raking a hand through his hair while pointing at her.

"Not so loud!" Griffin grabbed his jacket and tucked him down, so that they were almost lying on the roof, peering over the edge.

He knitted his eyebrows tightly and peered through the gloomy darkness. The station seemed empty. As if there were no other people around. He frowned. That was peculiar. Usually, a train station should have been filled with people. Now, however, it appeared to be completely deserted, and not even a guard was in sight. David felt his heart skip a couple of beats as he regarded the scene unfolding beneath them.

She could not be more than twenty-five. Millie's age, he thought with a harsh intake of breath. She even had dark hair, like Millie, although, hers was longer and more wavy.

With a desperate gasp, he swirled around and met Griffin's eyes. "We have to help her!"

At his words, Griffin's eyes suddenly hardened, and his face turned blank, like a solid rock. "No."

David felt as if he was kicked in the stomach. "What?"

Griffin shook his head rapidly. "No, no we can't!" He reached out and gripped David's shoulder. "They'll see us, and maybe even recognize us. Where not supposed to interfere, remember?"

"But—"

"No buts David!" Griffin bellowed, eyes flashing dangerously, "this was not something we expected, and we're not prepared for this! We're not going to put our lives at stake to save her!"

"But she's gonna get killed!" The blond started to gesture wildly towards the scene below them. "We can't just stand here and watch!" He felt how tears were welling up in his eyes, and how his throat tightened painfully, "it's not fair to her!"

The young woman was screaming now, and judging by the ripped, wounded howl, she was hurting inhumanly. It was the sort of scream that makes your stomach tighten, threatening to lurch and make you spill your gut all over the place. The kind of scream that witnessed of an incredible pain. David felt his own mouth open in a silent yell, and without realizing what he was doing, he wrenched himself out of Griffin's hold and did the first thing that came to his mind—

"I'm sorry David, but there's nothing we can do"

—He Jumped.

Without thinking, he did the one thing they were not supposed to do, the one thing that they were going to stay clear off. He showed himself as a Jumper. To the Paladins.

He didn't realize the stupidity of what he was doing before it was too late. Not before he was almost completely through the Jump-hole. Not before his feet swept the ground, and the iron tiger came to view right before him.

In less than a second, he'd be completely visible to the Paladins, and there would be no way back.

Then, out of nowhere, a pair of palms were pressed against his chest and stomach, and he found himself being embraced from behind. He let out a shocked gasp, and was about to escape with a Jump, when suddenly, he felt himself being whirled around. With a harsh intake of breath, he narrowed his gaze and found Griffin's face only inches from his. The lither jumper looked furious and a grim, twisted sneer was plastered on his features.

"You idiot!"

The sudden Jump sucked the air out of him, and his neck popped painfully when he was forcefully ripped from the spot he was standing on. Griffin's arms were encircling his waist, his hands clutching the leathery fabric on David's back. The surroundings dissolved around him, shattered, leaving nothing but gray and he felt himself soaring through the gloomy space.

Then, without warning, his back slammed against a stony surface, the back of his head colliding painfully with what appeared to be a brick wall. Despite the dizziness, he tried to push himself away from it, but, Griffin's hands were on his shoulders in seconds, roughly shoving him back.

"Let me go!" He demanded harshly, palms pressing up against the brunette's chest, trying desperately to somehow pry him off. Griffin's hold on him only tightened, his fists gripping David's jacket harder.

"No!"

David twisted in his grip and tried to bring his knee to kick Griffin off of him, but the other Jumper was faster, and with and almost surprising force, he used his thigh to push David firmer against the brick wall behind him.

"But we have to help her!" He screamed, his voice cracking slightly, "she won't stand a chance against them without out help!"

In his head he pictured Millie, and imagined that it was her down there, facing the Paladins. That it was Millie whom was mercilessly being shot at, whom was being chased and hurt bu those human monsters.

He could almost see her face before him, twisted in agony, chocolate eyes filled with more pain than a pair of eyes should be able to contain. And even though he knew it wasn't her, he wasn't able to stop the mental images from filling his mind. Horrified, he saw how they attacked her with their rods, tied her up and beat her, all this while her screams rang in their ears.

Tears welled up in his eyes and a choked gasp tore its way from his throat.

"Please!" he sobbed, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to hold back the burning, salty water behind their lids. "Please Griffin, we have to save her!"

"We can't David!" The brunet all but yelled back, voice raspy and harsh. David refused to open his eyes. "David!" Griffin shouted, shoving him in the chest, "David, look at me!"

And that's when David felt something connect with his jaw, sending sparks flying in his head, leaving a burning, throbbing ache.

Griffin had punched him, and judging by the amount of pain, punched him hard.

"..."

They stared at each other. For what seemed like minutes, they just stared, neither of them batting as much as an eyelash. The sounds from the city did not reach them, and David felt as if they were cut off from the rest of the world, like nothing and no one were able to reach them. The lights from the streets flickered across Griffin's face, making his eyes sparkle like gloomy diamonds. Vibrant blue bore into pale sky-colored ones, and David felt his gut stir, as if a pile of snakes were moving in there.

His hands started to tremble, and in something akin to awe, he felt his limbs loosen their strength, knees threatening to give in under his weight.

His cheek was still throbbing, and he imagined a dark bruise was already forming, but the pain seemed somewhat dulled.

Slowly, the blond let his eyes slip closed, and while his heart hammered painfully in his chest, he tilted his head to the side and opened his mouth faintly.

Suddenly, he realized he was holding his breath, and abruptly, he inhaled, filling his lungs with most needed oxygen.

That broke the spell.

A chilly wind swept their faces, making the disheveled mess that was Griffin's hair, flutter around his cheekbones and David stared wide eyed, suddenly realizing their position.

He's mouth went dry all of a sudden, and his eyes widened to the extreme. Griffin's face was so close, his lips lingering only inches from his own. David's heart began to pump violently and his gut tightened to the place where it became nauseating.

He wanted to push the other man away, or just Jump out of there, but his body didn't seem to understand his brain. He just stood there, trapped withing that beautiful, ocean stare. For some reason, everything around them was forgotten, even the fight, and all that remained was them. He and Griffin, pressed up against the raw brick wall.

David couldn't take it any longer.

Without further questioning, he reached up and grabbed the front of Griffin's jacket. A small glint of surprise flashed in the Englishman's eyes, but his gaze never wavered and he kept holding onto David's.

That was all the blond needed as insurance.

Without more hesitating, he yanked at the fabric beneath his hands and forcefully pulled the lither man towards him.

The kiss was like an attack. It wasn't even close to soft, as their tongues, teeth and lips crashed together in a furious battle of heat. Raising his hands, David fisted them in Griffin's wild hair, and felt how it slid roughly around his fingers, like raw strands of sand. He moaned into the kiss and forced their lips even harder together, feeling how his heart fluttered painfully at the contact.

Then, after a good couple of seconds, the truth finally hit him.

He was kissing Griffin!

_Oh no. Millie._

* * *

DUN DUN DUUUUN!! I'm an evil person! I know!!

* * *


End file.
